I'll Let You Live
by Jettrooper12
Summary: Just because Fate doesn't deal you the right cards, it doesn't mean you should give up. It just means you have to play the cards you get to their maximum potential. -Les Brown-
1. Chapter 1

_**I'm a glutton for punishment. I already have like, three stories that are unfinished, so what do i do...start a new one. But i have high hopes for this one! It's so unlike my usual genre.**_

_**So here's to you my valuable readers.**_

_**Enjoy**_

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Chapter 1

The sun rose peacefully over the New York skyline, shining through the buildings and lighting up even the darkest corners of every alley. Even before the sun reached it's highest point, the streets were filled with cars, angry citizens wanting to get to work on time, and if they weren't in their cars, they were walking. Even though it was summer, the morning wind still proved to be a hassle in everyone's already crummy morning.

Leonardo sat on the edge of the building, watching the sunrise. He was on his way to April's for breakfast. He decided not to tell the others, even though he loved his brothers, he needed some time away from them once in awhile.

Everything was getting to him, Splinters getting old, Mikey's becoming restless, Don never gets out of his office, and Raph is just being a bastard, there was really no other way of putting it.

And Leonardo hasn't been feeling himself lately. He's been nauseous all the time, not very hungry, and when he does manage to eat, he feels like he's eaten a cow.

Even now he feels exhausted, even though he woke up a half an hour ago. He'll talk to Don about it later, but now, he needs someone else to talk to.

He stood up and glanced to the left, seeing April's apartment complex. He groaned softly, then pressed on. Leaping from building to building.

…..

_Leo walked casually up to the gate, looking up at the building, the night sky gave it an ominous, haunted look. But the fact that it looked haunted wasn't what was making him scared. It was what lay inside. But he knew it had to be done. _

_ He still hasn't told his brothers, he doesn't know if he ever wants to. But he knew he has to eventually. But after this is over. _

_ He wiped seat away from his brow and pushed the gate open, stopping only to cough. After his violent cough attack was over, he wiped drool away from his lip on the bandage that was wrapped around his hand and walked through the grounds, fear lingering in his heart. He was shivering, partly from the night wind, but mostly from fear. _

_ He didn't like to leave his brothers in the dark, but he had to keep this to himself. If his brothers knew, nothing would be the same. Not before long, he spotted them, foot ninja's, standing outside the door, oblivious. Leo took a deep breath, rose his hands high in the air and slowly walked toward them. _

_ They noticed instantly and drew their weapons, he stopped, "I don't mean any harm." Leo said loudly. They didn't respond, only walked closer to him. Leo hesitated as one of them stopped in front of him and pressed the tip of his sword on Leo's throat. Leo shivered, "Please don't." He begged, shaking. _

_ The foot ninja chuckled darkly as the other circled around and removed his Katana's. He held the swords in his hand as he drove his foot into the back of Leo's knee, forcing him on his knees. _

_ "Why have you come here?" The foot ninja asked, pressing the tip against his skin, cutting it slightly. _

_ Leo clenched his teeth through closed lips, trying to hide his pain and fear. He coughed softly, "I…" He started, trying to find the right words, "I wish to speak with Saki." _

…..

He stopped when he landed gracefully on the fire escape, coughing violently. He took a deep breath, then walked up the stairs toward April's apartment. He suddenly wondered why she only invited him, she's had the others here before for breakfast. But in her message, she said 'Why don't you come over tomorrow for breakfast.'

No acknowledgement of the others at all.

Suddenly, just before Leo reached the window, his cell vibrated strongly. He groaned, knowing it was unavoidable, but he was prepared. He pulled it out of his belt, sat down on the metal stair outside of April's window and flipped it open. "Hello?" He said, trying to sound cheerful.

"Leo, where the hell are ya?" Raph's voice sounded tired, but irritated.

"Went out for a jog."

"And you couldn't tell us that?" He asked, sounding even more irritated.

"I didn't want to wake you." Leo responded, wanting this to end already. Raph breathed through the phone, short breaths that made him sound like he's trying to clam himself down, "You could have left a note. Mikey was worried about ya."

Leo smiled softly, "Tell him not to worry, I'll be back soon."

Raph sighed, "Alright, see you when you get back. Be careful." He said.

Leo nodded, "See you them."

He hung up the phone and pressed it against his lips, thinking deeply. He felt like Raph wasn't telling the complete truth, Mikey wasn't the one worried. He chuckled softly and pushed himself to his feet, suddenly feeling dizzy. He leaned up against the railing for a second.

"Hey?"

Leo stirred and glanced at the window, seeing April looking at him worriedly, "You ok?"

Leo cursed softly to himself, "Yeah…fine." He said, and then entered the apartment. His stomach sprang to life in a series of dull to sharp pains. He winced, but managed to hide each one.

"So, how've you been lately?" April asked as she walked over to the oven and continued her cooking. Leo made himself at home and sat down on the couch, holding his stomach. "Hanging in there."

She glanced back at him, not sure how to take that, "What do you mean?" She asked. Leo quickly looked from the ground to the window, trying to ease the tension. "I haven't been feeling myself lately."

April turned the stove off and leaned against the counter, eyeing him with worry, "Well talk to me, breakfast is almost ready."

Leo wasn't hungry, but he didn't have the heart to tell her.

"Well, I've just been feeling weird. And it doesn't help that my brothers are slacking and Splinters getting old. Mikey…he's just not motivated." Leo didn't like to be the center of attention, he wanted to stop right there and start a new conversation, but for some reason he continued talking. "Don's constantly in his lab, I don't know what he's doing in there, he's usually out and about, but now he's in there day and night. And Raph…he's just mopping around for some reason. I can't talk to him because he always says he's not in the mood or to get away."

April frowned, "What do you think is the problem? Something has to have happened?"

Leo sighed, thinking he knows the reason. "We're done. The foot haven't attacked in over four months, Shredders probably planning something big. Purple Dragons are history. There's nothing for us to do anymore. Mikey figured that out and stopped training, Don now has more time to do whatever it is he's doing, and Raph upset that things are not the way they used to be. There's no danger around every corner, we're not constantly getting threatened. And we all know Splinter is getting old, he can barely walk to the bathroom by himself, that's probably not helping anything." Leo stops suddenly, going into another cough attack, stomach exploding in a dull pain.

"Whoa, where did that come from?" She asked.

Leo shook his head, "Started up a few weeks ago, but I think its getting worse." Leo stated, starting to feel dizzy again.

"Are you hungry? Breakfast is ready." April said.

Leo nodded, "Yeah…Yeah I'll…"

Suddenly, he couldn't speak, he couldn't feel much of anything. His knees buckled and he hit the ground hard. "Leo!" April shouted, running to him and holding him up.

"I'm ok…I'm fine April." Leo urged.

"No your not, we're taking you to Don."

"No!" Leo said quickly, "Not Don…take me to Leatherhead."

"What?! Leo-"

"Don can't know! None of them can!"

"Leo!"

"April! Please! Just take me to Leatherhead."

…..

Leo wasn't dumb, he knew there was something wrong. He was just afraid of going to Don and him finding out that it was something really bad. He couldn't do that to them. Splinters old and now if its known that Leo is sick, they're not ever going to be the same.

But Leo never expected this.

April was in tears. Leatherhead was professional, but upset. Leo just sat there, staring at the floor, unable to think.

"There is a chance." Leatherhead said softly. Leo doesn't listen as he continues talking about percentages and recovery.

He says the word again.

Cancer.

It sends chills down his spine, making his legs feel numb. He buried is face in his hands, wanting him to stop. "Leonardo? Do you need a second?" He asked.

"I need more then a second." Leo responded.

Leatherhead nodded, then went back to his work. April grabbed Leo's shoulder and leaned on him. "Leo..." She said, sobbing in his shoulder.

"Don't tell them." Leo said sternly.

April looked up at him, "What?"

Leo turned and faced her, "Don't tell the guys."

…..

Leo sat in April's apartment, he didn't want to go home yet, he couldn't face them, but he didn't know why. They've called enough times, it's already four o'clock and he still hasn't called or talked to them at all. The phone vibrates quickly, they left another voicemail.

April's still in tears, in the kitchen doing something.

It hasn't sunk in fully yet, it all feels like a dream to him. The fact that Leatherhead basically said, "Leo, you're gonna die soon. And there's no stopping it." made Leo feel helpless. Like his fate has already been sealed and there's no way to stop it.

It had to be the ooze, it makes sense. Leo knew that you could cancer from anything nowadays, but he's a mutant turtle, so it might have been easier for him. Don knew all about this stuff, but he'll ask him later when this stuff settles.

Cancer.

That words strikes fear in his heart. Not because he knows that he's going to die. Something else has been bothering him about all this.

He stood up and made his way to the bathroom, closed the door and looked at himself in the mirror.

His brothers.

That was the thorn in the bush.

What will happen to them if and when this cancer takes Leo? And god forbid something happens to Splinter. The three of them can't be alone. They can't be.

Unless.

Leo sighed softly. He hated it. But he had an idea of what he had to do. He plucked his phone out from his belt and dialed Don's number. He held the phone up to his ear and heard the rings.

"Leo! Wher-" Don started. But Leo interrupted, "I'll be back soon, don't worry about me."

Don didn't respond right away, "Wha-"

"Just calm down, there's something I have to do." Leo said, then hung up the phone. He tossed it on the sink and turned the water on, taking a handful of water and splashing it on his face. Another violent cough attack erupted, he got out everything he could and spat out.

The phone vibrated again, Leo groaned as he grabbed it, turned it off and stuck it back in his pocket.

Everything seemed to fall down on him all at once. Spontaneous anger fueled his inner rage as he smashed his fist into the mirror, shattering it on impact. April shouted something and within minutes, opened the door.

"Leo!" She exclaimed, grabbing his hand. Leo then realized the large gash running across his knuckles. April quickly sat him down on the toilet, grabbed the bandages in the medicine cabinet and began wrapping his hand.

"Leo…I know your scared. But you need calm down." She said, wiping a tear away as she continued to wrap his hand. "There is a way past this. You can get better."

Leo pulled his hand away when April finished, "April! I'm a turtle! There is no hope for me! I can't go to a doctor and get rid of this. Leatherhead doesn't know what how to cure it, he said it himself! Don wouldn't know what to do! I can't do anything about this!" Leo shouted.

April tried to keep the tears in, but Leo's sudden rage scared her. "That doesn't mean you have to give up."

Leo stopped talking, he let those words sink in.

Giving up.

But Leo realized that he wasn't just giving up on himself. He was giving up on his brothers.

Now he knew what he really needed to do.

For his brothers.

He stormed pass April and out of her apartment. April screamed for him, but he didn't stop. He got onto the fire escape, climbed to the roof and got away. There was only one thing he had to do to keep his brothers safe, and he had to do it, no matter how much he hated it.

….

The Katana the foot ninja was wielding was placed on the back of Leo's neck as he walked down the corridor. The foot ninja's were talking, but to quietly for Leo to hear. His heart raced as they lead him to the Shredder.

He coughed, trying to keep an upcoming attack in. He took a deep breath, then felt his stomach lurch as they walked through a door. It was undoubtedly Saki's room. A large banner with the foot ninja symbol hung from the ceiling. The room was dark, only lighted by the one large window in which he was standing in front of. Looking out over the ominous city.

The foot ninjas stopped Leo a few feet from him and forced him to his knees once again.

Saki turned around, facing Leo with a sinister grin. "An enemy that I have been chasing for years now, finally surrenders. And even goes through the trouble of walking here himself. Do you know how much trouble that saves me?"

Leo growled softly, angry at himself for what he's doing, "I'm not surrendering."

Saki's face lowered into a bitter smug. "Then what are you doing here?"

Leo took a deep breath, trying not to cough, "I've come to make you a deal." Saki's eyebrow jerked up in curiosity. "Oh? And what would this deal be."

Leo sighed, "I want full immunity for my family. You will not touch them, nor even think about them. And…I want your best medical help."

Saki let out a roaring laugh, "This is interesting, and what do I get?"

Leo closed his eyes, "I will join you."

Saki smiled largely, "Hmm…I'm not sure that's a fair deal."

"Please." Leo begged.

Saki rubbed his chin, "First, tell me why you're doing this."

Leo bit his lip, feeling his heart hammer inside his chest. "I…I have cancer."

Saki didn't show any emotion, but Leo could tell that he was shocked. Saki rubbed his chin again, "So let me get this straight. I've been trying to get rid of you and your brothers for years now, and now that you're finally dying. You want me to help you survive this deadly disease?"

Leo's heart sank when he realized how moronic that sounded. "How about this." Saki started again, "I will leave your brothers alone, I will not even think about them anymore. And you will join me." Saki grinned, "But you will not receive any medical help from me…or no one. You will let this disease grow and you will suffer…and you will parish."

Leo felt a tear fall from his eye, Saki raised a finger up, "So in other words, you help me and let this disease kill you…and you're brothers are free. The foot ninja's will no longer pursue them."

"How can I trust you?" Leo asked quickly.

Saki smiled again, put his hand over his heart, "You have my word."

Leo looked to the ground, thinking about what he's getting himself into. But in the end, his brothers are safe no matter what. And that's what matters most.

Leo took a deep breath, "Ok. You leave my brothers alone, and I will join you…and die."

"Wonderful," Saki said as he held his hand out in front of him. Leo looked at the hand, feeling a sick lurch in his stomach.

He took Saki's hand and shook it. Sealing the deal.

Sealing his fate.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Hello again my faithful readers! Jet is here to bring you yet another chapter of this exhilarating tale of tragedy and regret, sorrow and loss...stay tuned and find out what happens next in Quicksand and Four Levels of Insanity. **_

_**...Sorry, my Stan Lee kicked in there. **_

_**Here's to you my valuable readers!**_

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Chapter 2

Leo sat at the door of the lair, not wanting to go inside. Not only did he not want to face his brothers, but he needed some time to think. He just made a deal with the devil, and he's getting the shit end. Well a normal person would call it a shit end, but he calls it a winning end. He doesn't care if he lives or dies, all he wants to do is keep his brothers alive.

They wouldn't understand, and he knew it. He knew once he told them that he was dying and the only way to protect them was to fight side by side with Saki and let this disease kill me, they won't take it. They will do all they can to stop Saki. And Leo knows he can't let that happen.

Saki said to be back at foot headquarters the day after tomorrow for his first assignment. He wasn't looking forward to that.

He sighed, knowing it was inevitable. He got to his feet, using the wall for support as his head ringed with dizziness and pulled the lever. The door wasn't even open all the way before Raph stormed toward him, "Where the hell were ya!?" He shouted.

Leo placed a hand on his aching head and walked inside, "Can we not do this right now?"

"Not do this?" Raph exclaimed, "Leo you were out all day and then you come home and not tell us where you were?"

Leo sighed as he saw Don step out of his lab and Mikey watch from the second floor. "Listen, I'll explain everything tomorrow , but right now, I'm tired."

"You think you can just shrug this off like it's nothing!" Raph shouted, voice getting angrier and angrier. "Would you stop screaming!" Leo shouted back, "I have a bad enough headache as it is."

Don watched painfully as his brothers got into another fight. He was also worried and confused as to why Leo was out all day, but didn't want answers as bad as Raph did. He glanced up at Mikey, who was also watching with annoyance.

"Can you just please leave me alone!" Leo started to scream.

"What were you doing all day?" Raph asked again, this time in a growl.

Leo couldn't keep his anger in anymore, "RAPH!" He shouted, but before he could get any further, a soft, yet stern voice stopped them both.

"Boys!"

They both glared over toward the voice. Leo frowned at the sight of Splinter, his grey streaked fur and tired looking eyes made him feel distraught. "Leonardo, explain your absence." Splinter asked calmly. Leo sighed, "Sensei, please…I'll explain everything tomorrow. Right now I need to rest."

Splinter took a deep breath and nodded softly, "Very well, I will ask you again tomorrow, and I expect an answer then."

"Yes sensei." Leo nodded, then glared at Raph with a frown. Raph returned the glare with a grunt, resulting into storming off into the next room. Leo shook his head in disappointment and made his way upstairs, he stopped at Mikey and put a hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry Mike, everything's alright." Leo said, voice fading away.

"Uhh, sure…what ever you say Leo." Mikey muttered worriedly as Leo walked past him and disappeared into his room.

Leo sighed deeply as he closed his door, untied his mask and tossed it onto the desk. The coughs started back up randomly, starting casual, then getting worse in seconds. He clenched his teeth and sat on his bed, trying to hold each tiny cough that escaped his throat.

He was dying.

A sudden tear dropped from his eye. He groaned and wiped it away. He hated to cry, crying is a sign of weakness, and he can't be weak. Not now.

He gloomily stood back up, turned off his light and slumped down in his bed, face in his pillow. He was exhausted, but also scared at the thought of Saki. What is he going to make Leo do?

He could do whatever he wanted to him, and that's another thing Leo worried about. If he happened to get visible wounds from whatever happens, how is he going to explain it to his brothers.

This was going to be so hard, but Leo had to do it. The only way to keep them safe is to hide them from the truth. But…if he died, they will never know.

Then Leo got the idea, he sprang out of the bed, went over to his desk and grabbed a pencil and a piece of paper. Sat down in his chair and wrote,

_If you guys happen to be reading this, then I'm most likely dead. I know I've been acting odd lately, but its all in good reason. I had to keep the truth from you guys. I couldn't let you guys know. I had to do what I did to protect you guys. If you don't know already, I had cancer, and there was no hope for a cure since Leatherhead didn't know what to do. So I did what I had to, to insure your safety if and when I pass, You guys probably won't agree with the choices that I made, but I made them for you guys. I took Shredders offer he made many years ago, I joined him. He told me that if I joined him, then he would ensure that you guys will not be harmed by the foot anymore._

Leo stopped, pressing his fist against his lips as he coughed violently, took a deep breath, then continue.

_It was the only way I could protect you guys after I pass. I'm sorry for everything I put you through by keeping this secret from you. You guys are the world to me and I want nothing more then to know that you guys are safe. I love you all, and I hope you guys carry on and live a better life then this. I love you guys so much and I'm sorry…for everything._

_ Leo_

Leo bit his lip and he reread the note a few times before folding it up and sticking it in his desk drawer. Barely able to keep his eyes open, he staggered over to his bed and lay down, and within minutes, he fell into a deep sleep.

…

The morning light that shined down from the manhole directly above the lair seeped through the cracked door. Leo didn't stir, he shifted in his bed and continued to sleep peacefully, or as peaceful as he could. The pain kept rattling him out of sleep everyone in a while. The worst was at about four o'clock, eyes snapping open with a searing pain in his chest that made him hack for oxygen. He was scared that he would wake up his brothers and cause yet another commotion, but he managed to keep himself quiet as he rocked the pain away. The pain didn't go away completely, but enough for him to relax back into sleep.

It was almost noon now, and he was still asleep. The door quietly creaked open, letting the light into the darkened room. Suddenly, Leo was jarred out of his sleep, twirling his head for the source of discomfort. He realized that it was still the pain that lingered in his chest that did it, but the light outside didn't help.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." Leo heard a voice say from the door. With eye's squinted, he glanced over and saw Don standing at the doorway. Leo sighed and fell back into his bed, "What time is it?"

"Almost twelve-thirty." He replied.

Leo groaned, "Great." He said softly as he shifted cautiously, not wanting to jar something else in his chest. "You usually don't sleep this late," Don started, taking a step into the room. "Just wanted to check to see if you were still breathing."

Leo chuckled softly, "Barely." He muttered under his breath.

"What?" Don asked.

"Nothing."

Don nodded and went to walk out, "Wait," Leo called as he sat on the edge of his bed. Don looked at him questionably, then walked back into the room. "Do you…Do you think the foot are planning attack against us?" Leo asked. Don frowned, exhaled deeply and leaned up against the doorframe, "Truthfully, I don't know. I've been looking over the city crime reports and they seem to be clear of any foot sightings." Don said, "So either they're finally gone. Or he's been spending months cooking something up for us. Only time will tell."

Leo swears that Don is the next Splinter, always knows what to say and how to say it. He would make a good leader one day, Leo knew that for a fact.

Don nodded and then walked out of the room. The happiness suddenly faded from Leo, he abruptly remembered that he was to go back to Saki tomorrow and start his new life in the foot clan. He was surprised that Saki didn't go as far as to not allow him to see his brothers anymore. He would have stopped the deal there, or would he? He doesn't even know the answer to that one.

He groggily rose from his bed and stepped onto the cold floor, shivering slightly as he staggered to his door, then out into the main room. He leaned on the railing to try and ease the dizziness. Mikey was of course watching TV, Don just got downstairs and was now walking to the kitchen. Leo heard the soft thuds of fists against a punching bag, then the soft yet stern voice, "Again."

Leo knew he would have to explain himself sometime, but he didn't know what to say. Part of him wants to go back into his room and think about it, but he decided against it and just went for it.

He slowly crept downstairs and past the couch, "Morning bro!" Mikey said in a cheerful tone, indicating he's glad to see Leo is finally awake, "Or should I say, Afternoon."

Leo smiled warmly as walked into the kitchen and joined Don at the table, "There's still some eggs left, want me to get you some?" Don asked. Leo nodded and rested his aching head in his hand. He wouldn't mind going back to bed and staying there.

The thudding from the training room suddenly stopped, faint voices could be heard, but not understood. Don returned with a plate of what was left of the eggs and a piece of toast. "Thanks," Leo muttered, beginning to dig in. He knew once he ate he would feel worse, but on the other side, starving himself wouldn't be a great idea either. His heart hammered inside his already pain filled chest as the training room door opened.

Raph entered the kitchen, Leo stiffened. He walked to the fridge, pulled out a bottle of water and began to chug it. "Good morning, my son." Splinter said in a calm, collective voice. Leo bowed his head, "Morning Sensei."

Splinter sat down across from him, Don quickly got us and made him his afternoon tea. Leo could sense the tension, he felt uncomfortable. Splinter always had a way of doing that, just by looking he could get an innocent person to spill their darkest secret.

Don came back with a hot cup of tea. "Thank you my son," Splinter said as he took the mug and sipped it. "Now Leo," He began, setting his mug down. Leo instantly felt like he was in an interrogation room. Splinter and Don was the good cop, Raph was the bad. "I believe you owe us a simple explanation on your whereabouts yesterday. If you are ready."

Leo nodded, knowing this is going to be a difficult couple of minutes. Mikey appeared from the living room, walking in and leaning on the wall near the door. Leo set down his fork and took a deep breath, all of a sudden, a cough attack erupted. He tried to play it off as if it was normal, but once it started, it didn't stop. Don glanced at him with worry, about to get up and check if he's ok. But Leo quickly held up a hand mid cough, "I'm fine." He coughed again, "I'll be fine."

Once the coughing finally ceased, he caught his bearing and pressed on with the interrogation. "Alright, so the night before yesterday. April messaged me to come over for breakfast."

Don gave a confused glance, "I didn't get a message."

"She only sent it to me, I'm still unsure about that part, but anyway I went and we talked." Leo continued.

"About?" Splinter interrupted.

Leo bit his lip, glancing down at the table, "Uhh…" What was he going to say? _We talked about how much trouble and stress you guys give me. _Leo rubbed his head, trying to think of something to say. Splinter shook his head, "Do not worry about it, continue with the story. It's none of our business." A surge of relief flew through Leo within seconds.

"Yeah, and then he left." Raph interrupted, "But that doesn't explain the next nine hours you were gone."

"Raphael," Splinter snapped, "Let your brother finish."

Leo glared at Raph shortly, then shook his head, "Anyway, I stopped by Leatherheads place,"

Splinter and Don suddenly exchanged a worried glance, "Is everything alright my son?"

Leo shook his head, "Yeah, I just have a really bad cold. The tests took forever," He said, Raph suddenly grunted, "You can even ask April, she was there." Leo spat.

"And what about after you got out of Leatherhead, there was still a considerable amount of time between when you say you got out and you got home." Splinter interrogated. Leo tensed up as he thought of something to say. "I…" He stuttered, "I went to foot headquarters."

"What!?" Don, Mikey, and Raph shouted at the same time. Splinter rose up a hand to quiet them. Everything was silent for a second, then Splinter quietly talked, "Explain your actions."

Even though he knew what he was going to say, he was still nervous. "Because, the foot haven't been seen, nor heard from in months. I needed to know if they were doing anything or if they were even still there!" Leo nervously muttered.

Before any of his brothers could speak, Splinter quickly questioned, "And?"

Leo sighed, knowing this is the moment that changes everything. His heart hammered in his chest, then softly, he spoke, "They're gone."

"What?" Don exhaled.

Leo nodded, "The place was empty, I searched for the slightest sign to indicate that they were still around, but I found nothing."

Splinter closed his eyes and pondered this thought. Mikey grinned, cheering softly as he and Don high fived. Raph stared at the ground, a mixture of relief and denial washed over his face. Splinter showed no emotion, but on the inside, he felt the most joyful relief there was.

Leo smiled softly, disgusted at the lies he's feeding his family. The mere fact that it's for their protection is the only thing keeping him from full self-hatred. He knew that if Saki's doesn't keep his promise and attack his brothers, then everything goes to hell. The thought clicked in Leo's head, for once in his life, he is putting his life in Saki's hands.


	3. Chapter 3

_**THis new heat has really been affecting my writing. Took a while to actually finish this one, but i'm getting use to it so the next chapter should be coming up a lot faster.**_

_**So here's to you my fellow readers. **_

* * *

Chapter 3

The TV blared through the lair, spreading the useless and over dramatized techno music to every room. Don sat in his lab, wearing headphones and staring dumbly at the blank document on his screen. He couldn't stop thinking about Leo, and how he wasn't feeling well, but he went to Leatherhead instead of him. He couldn't help but feel betrayed, Don could have helped Leo, but why did he insist on going to Leatherhead.

He didn't know why, but he couldn't concentrate. So he took off his headphones, not bothering to turn the music off and walked out of his lab. Mikey and Leo were sitting on the couch, Mikey focused on his movie, and Leo just kind of staring.

Don heard Raph in the training room, lifting weights, so he didn't bother. He walked to the back of the couch and felt a disturbed pinch as he focused on Leo. He wanted to ask why, but decided to just leave it be, or at least try.

Then the thought came to him, he quickly retreated back into his office, shut the door and took out his shell cell. Something in his stomach told him to just let it go, but the betrayal feeling over took it and he punched in Leatherheads number.

The phone rings a few times, then he answers.

"Hello?"

"Hey LH, I have a quick question."

"Sure, go ahead."

Don felt his heart hammer for some reason, "Leo told us he went to you yesterday…"

Leatherhead seemed as if at a loss of words. "Yes," He said shortly.

"Well, I mean…I know its stupid…but I'm just curious…did he mention why he didn't come to me?"

Leatherhead takes a breath, "It was pretty serious, he seemed to be in a lot of pain, I would think he would have gone to you, but he needed someone close by." He said.

Don's face flattened with confusion, "What do you mean a lot of pain?"

"Donatello, he's suffering!" Leatherhead said, sounding serious.

"It's just the flu, how is he in a lot of pain?" Don asked, wanting a straight forward answer.

Leatherhead was quiet, "Yes…yes of course." He said softly, then suddenly "I'm sorry Donatello, but I must go. It was nice talking to you."

"Yeah, nice talking to you too."

Leatherhead hung up almost instantly, Don blinked uncertainly, then closed his phone.

He sounded just as confused as Don is. It was like he thought Don was talking about something completely different.

Just as he thought this, someone's shell cell rung. Don jerked his head toward the door and listened, "Hello?" Leo's voice said.

Don rushed out of his chair and toward his door, opening it slightly. Leo was no longer on the couch, he searched around and saw him hurrying up the stairs. Don slipped out of his office just as Leo disappeared into his room. He glanced at Mikey, who had fallen asleep on the couch. Raph was still in the training room, and Splinter was somewhere.

Don's heart started beating rapidly as he snuck up the stairs and tiptoed to Leo's door. He placed his ear against the wood and listened.

"-ow, Listen LH, you don't understand what I'm going through here. I have to do this for them."

Silence.

"I don't feel like talking about this over the phone-"

"Donatello!" A sudden and sharp voice cried.

Don jumped and turned around, seeing Splinter come out of Mikey's room. "What are you doing?"

Don momentarily was to shocked to speak, he nervously looked around, "Uhh, I was checking to see if Leo was in his room."

Splinter lowered his eyes, trying to see though Don, "Follow me." Splinter said, turning and heading for the stairs. Don sighed, glancing back at Leo's door, wondering.

"Donatello!"

"I'm coming." He groaned, then followed Splinter downstairs and into the training room. Raph stopped lifting weights and watched them walk in, "Raphael, sit up!" Splinter snapped. Raph grunted, then set the weight back on the stand and sat up.

"You two practice, I'll be back later to tell you when to stop." He said strictly, then walked out.

"What the hell!" Raph said.

….

Splinter sat on the sofa, watching his soap opera's for the past hour, sipping on his tea. The sound of his sons practicing in the training room kept him focused on the time.

Splinter felt himself getting older, which saddened him. He knew that Leonardo would have to take care of his brothers until they are ready to take care of themselves. But Leonardo still had a lot to learn, and there's not enough time. And that careless move he pulled yesterday did not sit well with Splinter. He was worried that Leonardo has become reckless and forgetting everything he had learned about honor and discipline.

He will have to have a serious talk with him. But for now, he must keep a clear mind and try to discipline Donatello and Raphael. He knew Donatello wasn't checking to see if Leonardo was awake, but what he really was doing, Splinter didn't know. And Raphael, he's become too distant. Splinter thought it be best to force him in a room with Donatello for a while, try to get back into reality that his brothers need him.

Once the clock struck five o'clock, he stood up slowly and walked into training room. "Enough!" He snapped. Don and Raph stopped, bruised, sweaty, and tired. Splinter nodded, "That will be all." Then walked out.

Raph caught his breath, "Thank god." He stretched his arm and walked out of the training room. Don stayed back and took a seat on the floor, catching his breath, but also in thought about what Leo was talking about. It was clear to him that Leatherhead had called Leo right after he hung up with him.

He shook his head in confusion, got up and walked out of the training room, searching the room for Leo. He spotted Mikey walk out of the bathroom, "Hey Mike, where's Leo?"

Mikey shrugged, "Think he went topside again."

Don groaned, "Are you serious?!"

"Don't worry," Mikey said quickly, "Splinter already laid into him and told him to be back no later then seven."

Don sighed, nodded, then walked into his office. He closed the door and instantly felt alone in the world, he sat in his chair and stared at the blank document on the screen. He didn't know what was going on with Leo, and truly, he was to stressed to go any further. What with Splinter breathing down his neck. He shook his head, placed the headphones over his ears and instantly tuned out the entire situation and focused on his work.

…

Leatherhead shook his head disappointingly, "I don't know why you are doing, but I think you are making a big mistake."

"LH, I already told you, I don't care weather I live or die. As long as my family is out of harms way." Leo claimed, head in hand.

"But my friend, you still have people that care about you! They don't want to see you go so quickly, and especially knowing that you were working with Shredder." Leatherhead said, getting off his chair.

"I'm working with Shredder because if I do, he will leave my brothers alone after I'm gone."

"And how are you so sure that he will keep his word?" Leatherhead leaned over his table, eyeing Leo with concern. Leo looked to the ground, not knowing what to say. This was the thought that made Leo most nervous, he in fact doesn't know if Saki will keep his promise.

"Shredder is known for…well…being an asshole, excuse my language." He said, his deep, gruff voice always made him sound angry, but now, Leo could hear his seriousness and concern in his voice.

"I know…but I can't leave them alone…The shredder will know and my brothers would be history. I can't…I can't just give up."

Leatherhead closed his eyes and shook his head, "I don't agree with what your doing, but if you think its what's right. Then I won't argue with you. Just know that I'm always here if you need me."

Leo, for once in awhile, smiled. "Thank you Leatherhead."

….

It was almost two o'clock, and Leo lay awake, staring at the ceiling. The dull, constant pain kept him from getting any sleep, plus the nervousness that followed. He was so scared as to see what Saki had planned for him.

Leo didn't know what to expect. But he knew it wasn't going to be good.

…

"Are you kidding me!" Raph shouted at Leo, who was talking to Splinter. Leo closed his eyes and ignored him, "Father, please."

Splinter contemplated, knowing he shouldn't let him. But he couldn't control him anymore, he's going to be leader soon, so he must start making his own choices, weather Splinter liked it or not.

Splinter closed his eyes and nodded, "If you wish."

Leo nodded, "Thank you sensei." He said, glared at Raph with a smirk, then headed for the door. Raph grunted and backhanded a vase, sending it shattering against the ground. "What the hell Raph!" Mikey shouted as he and Don quickly went to pick up the vase. Raph disappeared into the training room as Splinter stood in his spot, looking at the ground in disappointment.

Leo knew this was a bad time to leave, but he had to. He sighed, pulled the lever and exited the lair. Don looked up at Leo, Leo looked back. Their eyes connected, without even saying anything, they knew what each other were thinking.

_How can you leave at a time like this? Our family is falling apart and you just have to leave._

_I'm sorry Donnie, I'm doing this for you guys._

The lair door slowly begins to close, and they still stared into each others eyes. _I'm sorry Donnie._ The door slams shut. _This is for you guys._

….

Leo's went numb when the headquarters came into view, he groaned anxiously and reluctantly pushed on toward the building. They were expecting him, but he didn't know if that meant in the good way or the bad way. He expected then to tackle him to the ground, then force him by the tip of their blade to Saki.

Or they could stand away from him, line up side by side while he slowly walks to Saki's room. Giving him an honorary entrance. Not likely.

He mounted a nearby ladder and began climbing down. Suddenly, his throat tightened, forcing a abrupt hacking. He stopped and coughed, then the coughing continued as he quickly climbed the rest of the way down, then stumbled into the wall as the coughing grew worse and worse.

He slide to the ground and held his breath, knowing it would most likely make it worse, but he had to try. And after a few seconds, he took a deep breath and pushed himself back to his feet.

After a few more seconds of almost passing out, he stopped in front of the building. Glancing up at it with terror, he noticed two foot ninjas at the gate slowly approach him. He tensed with anxiety as one of them drew his sword. They stopped in front of him, both eyeing each other with hate.

"Hello Leonardo." The foot with the sword said.

Leo shivered, deathly afraid of what will happen next.

Behind the mask, the foot ninja smiled, "We've been expecting you."


	4. Chapter 4

_**Ok so it wasn't a fast as i'd hoped, but here it is. **_

_**So here's to you my precious readers!**_

_**Enjoy!**_

* * *

Chapter 4

"So what is the plan?" Karai asks, arms crossed, eyeing her father with wonder. Saki doesn't move, he continues gazing at his weapon collection, wondering which one to use.

"Simple," Saki turns and faces her, "I give the turtle a false assignment, and lead him to an area in which there is no escape, and by then, my army of foot ninja's and I will already be there, and we will end his miserable life." His lips stretched with a terrifying smile. Karai's jaw dropped with the sudden and brutal plan, "Father you can't!" Karai shouted.

Saki raised his eyebrow, "Oh? And why can't I?"

Karai stopped, knowing she had to choose her words carefully. She knew that Leonardo has ben her enemy for a long time, but killing Leonardo while he's already dying, trying to fight for his brother's immunity, that's just merciless. It's brutal. But what can Karai do?

"There is no arguing Karai, this is the plan, and I will not take no for an answer." Saki says with a face that is just as scary and the voice. "And after we end Leonardo's life. We go for his brothers."

Karai's face grew red with anger, she wanted to scream, she wanted to attack him. But she knew that she couldn't, so she nodded and walked out of the room. She didn't understand why she felt so much protest over the killing of the turtles. But there was nothing she could do. She had to go about with the plan, whether she liked it or not.

…

Don twirled his Bo staff through his fingers, then spun around and smashed the butt end against the punching bad, watching the puff of dirt bounce off. He spun around again, twirling the staff through his fingers, then moved and spun it around his neck, grabbed it and jammed the end of the staff into the punching bag, puncturing it and allowing the sand from inside to flood out onto the floor.

"Dammit." He cursed, leaned his Bo staff against the wall and went to grab the broom. Upon leaving the training room, he spotted Raph and Mikey, playing a video game. Raph was winning, Don could tell just by the way he's grinning and grabbing the controller. Mikey was letting him win, just to put him in a better mood. Don smiled, feeling his heart grow slightly. Then something clouded his mind as he glanced toward the door. Where was Leo?

He sighed and turned toward the kitchen, seeing Splinter sitting inside. He looked troubled, like he was having a hard time thinking about something. Suddenly, he wiped his face with his hand, stood up and walked out of the kitchen. "Raphael, may I please see you for a second?" He said softly.

Raph paused the game and glanced up at Splinter, "Uhh…sure." He set the controller down and followed Splinter. Don watched them and took Raph's spot on the chair. Once Splinter's door closed, Don leaned over to Mikey, "Any idea what that's about?"

Mikey shrugged, "No idea."

Don shook his head and went to talk into his office, "Hey Don." Mikey called out almost silently.

Don hesitated, then looked back, "Yeah Mikey?"

Mikey sighed, "What happens when there's nothing for us to do?"

Don's face fell, he turned and faced Mikey, "What do you mean by that?"

Mikey shrugged, "Like…when the foot is gone and stuff, when we're not needed. What do we do then?"

Don smiled softly, not sure why. "I don't know little brother."

Mikey sighed and stood up, "I need a job."

Don chuckled, "Yeah, you could be a comedian."

Mikey grinned, "I'm a jokester, what else can I say."

….

Saki swung his sword through the air, slicing the imaginary target. He went back to position, then swung upward.

He stopped at the sound of the door opening, sheathed his sword and faced the intruder. The foot ninja fell to his knees and bowed, "What is it?" Saki asked.

"Still no sign of the turtle." He said quickly. Saki growled, then nodded, "Very well, keep on guard." Just as the foot ninja was about to leave, Saki stopped him, "What about Rain?" Saki asked, feeling his stomach bubble with anger just by saying his name.

The foot ninja shook his head, "No sign of him either. But we're still looking."

"Good." Saki grunted. "I what him found, brought back to me so I can finish his pathetic live. We must show that no one can leave the foot clan."

The foot ninja shivered, then bowed. "Oh, and please let Karai know that she will be taking my place in the ambush." Saki said, "I want to see where he loyalty stands."

Saki stepped toward the foot ninja and placed his hand on his shoulder, "I need you to report back to me everything she does. If she hesitates, I want to know."

The foot ninja nodded quickly, "Yes master." He said, intimidated by his new responsibilities. He hurriedly staggered out of Saki's room and Saki regained his focus. Slicing the air with his sword precisely and with a professional ease.

A few minutes late, Karai barged in, anger stained her face, knuckles white, cheeks blushing. "What is the meaning of this?" She almost shouted.

Saki's lip curled into a sinister smile, "Explain yourself."

Karai let the doors slam close and she entered the room, "You put me in your place in the ambush. Why? I thought ending Leonardo's life was your plan."

Saki again sheathed his sword and faced Karai, just as he went to lie in detail to her, another foot ninja walked in. "Sir, the turtle has arrived."

Saki's smile grew larger, "Excellent, lead him to me."

The foot ninja bowed, then exited the room with haste. Karai focused her gaze back at Saki, he welcomed it with a nod. "Needless to say I hardly think I should have to explain myself." Saki said.

Karai glowered at him as he slipped the holster out of his belt and placed it back on the weapons rack. Saki turned and held up a hand before Karai could speak, "Your team has been sent to the area already and are awaiting orders. You will accompany Leonardo to the point and make sure the ninja's finish the job. I will provide Leonardo with a false assignment in which you will scout him to where he thinks the target is."

Karai bit her lip, hated what she was doing, but nodded.

Suddenly, the doors opened. Saki turned and faced the two foot ninja's that entered, followed by the blue masked turtle, eyes distant, looks comfortable, but obviously on edge.

Saki smiled, "Hello Leonardo."

Leo didn't respond, Saki's face fell with disappointment. He grabbed the file that rested on the floor next to him, Leo examined the file with uncertainty. "I didn't know you guys used files. Seems a little modern for you guys." Leo joked, trying to lighten the already dark mood.

Saki chuckled disapprovingly, "I find it better for organization."

Saki opened the file and took out a picture and handed it Leo. Leo took the picture and looked at it. It was an undercover picture taken of the Hun. Leo looked back up at Saki, "And? What is he my new partner or something?"

Saki smiled, shaking his head, "He is your target."

Leo's face fell, "Hun?!" He said in shock.

Saki nodded.

Leo looked at the picture again, "But…isn't he your right hand man?"

"Yes, but he has recently reported his permanent departure from the foot clan." Saki lied, knowing that Hun is still very much loyal to him and the foot clan. Leo bit his lip, knowing he couldn't go up against the Hun by himself. But he had to prove to Saki that he could do it.

Just as he thought this, he felt a cough fit bubble in his throat, but he managed to keep it down for the time being. "Is there a problem with this assignment?" Saki asked. Leo glanced down once more at the picture, then sighed, "No." He said softly.

Saki smiled, "Good, now I expect good news when you come back." He said, Leo noticed a glare in his eye that made it seem like he had something else plan.

…

Don couldn't focus on anything, there was too much on his mind. Where the hell Leo was, what Splinter was talking to Raph about? It clouded his mind like a plague, not letting him keep focus on anything.

The door behind him opened softly, "Hey Don?"

Don turned and glanced at Mikey, "Yeah?"

"You want to play a game or something?"

Don knew he didn't want to, but he also didn't want to leave Mikey alone while he just sat in here staring off into space. He needed a distraction, and maybe a video game is just what he needed.

Don puffed and stood up, "Ready to get beat?"

Mikey shined a toothy grin, "Sweet!" He shouted and dashed to the couch. Don followed with a fake smile, slightly joyful, but also reluctant.

Mikey put in his game and handed Don the controller. The game started and Mikey was instantly tuned into the game, but Don had a more difficult time.

Maybe they needed to get away for a while, just Don and Mikey. He didn't know where they could go, maybe the Grand Canyon or something. Just get away for a while, let all this settle. He didn't even care if they ended up staying at Casey's farmhouse.

The round ended and Mikey smiled mischievously, "Come on Donnie!"

Don smirked, then turned his head, "How about we take a little vacation?" He asked.

Mikey paused the game and faced Don, "What?"  
"A vacation, just you and me."

Mikey stared at him with confusion, eyes glaring into Don's. "A vacation to where?"

Don shrugged, "I don't know, just somewhere. I think we could use time away from the others…from here."

Mikey exhaled softly, knowing that things around the lair were not only tense, but also the bond that held the brothers together was crumbling slowly. Except the bond with Don, Mikey felt somehow closer to Don.

"What do you have in mind?" Mikey asked.

…..

Leo stepped out of the building, mind almost to mush. He couldn't believe that Saki wanted him to kill Hun just for leaving, this guy is brutal. Leo had to be careful around Saki, Leatherhead was right, this guy doesn't like to keep people around.

Leo glanced down at the tiny, ripped piece of paper that a foot gave to him, holding an address. Supposedly, this is where Hun was located. But something didn't sit right with Leo, he decided to play it safe.

He pulled out his shell cell and dialed Don's number. After a few rings, he picked up.

"Hello?" Don's voice sounded.

"Don! Hey, I need you to do me a favor."

"Sure," Don said hesitantly, "What do you need?"

Leo took a deep breath, then stopped for a second to cough, "You ok?" Don asked quickly. Leo hacked up whatever was left and quickly responded, "I'm fine…I need to know where Hun is."

Don didn't say anything for a second, which Leo expected. "Leo, what the hell are you doing?"

Leo froze, stunned at the response. "What do you mean?"

"Leo, I'm not helping you pick fights with old enemies."

"I'm not!" Leo said quickly, "Please Donnie I just need to know where he is."

Don hesitated, then sighed, "Give me a minute."

Leo felt a jolt of hope rush through him as Don gave him the address. Leo thanked him and quickly hung up the phone without explanation.

He glanced back down at the address Saki gave him.

They didn't match.

Leo concluded it to be different information, and Leo trusted Don more then Saki.

Leo crumpled up the tiny paper, allowed it to fall through his fingers and began making his way to the address that Don gave him.

…

Leo softly landed on the building, he knew it was the right one because he's been here before, once a long time ago with his brothers, when the purple dragons were still around.

Leo snuck around to the other side and lowered himself to the fire exit. If he remembered correctly, his room was on the fifth floor. He was on the seventh.

As he stepped on the stairs, they wobbled and creaked ominously. Leo's face flattened with uncertainty. He decided to take the risky way and climb through the window leading into the hallway.

Knowing that he would have to walk to the other side, where the staircases was, and go down to the fifth floor. Knowing his luck, someone would come out of their house just as he passed, but he had to take the chance.

He slowly but hastily walked down the corridor, heart beating quickly as he eyed each door with anxiousness. Once he made it to the staircase, he quickly went through the door and hurriedly dashed down the stairs. Luckily for him, no one was coming up or down.

He walked through the door that lead to the fifth floor and studied the hallway. It was empty, and he spotted Hun's door.

….

"Shut the door behind you, my son." Splinter said softly, taking a seat on the carpet.

Raph nodded, shutting the door quietly behind him.

…

Leo wiped the sweat away form his forehead as he grabbed the doorknob, turning it slightly.

It was unlocked.

He took a deep breath, then pushed the door open quietly. Upon peeking inside, he saw that the room was empty. But something didn't sit well in his stomach. He stepped farther inside and took a closer look inside. Suddenly, the door behind him slammed shut.

"Well isn't this a nice surprise." Said a low, rough voice.

…

"Sit down in front of me, my son."

Raph did as he was told, sat down in front of Splinter and glared at him with curiosity, "So, what is this about sensei?"

Splinter glanced at the ground, eyebrows lowered, as if upset. "We must speak my son."

….

Leo quickly drew his swords, but before he could swing, Hun had already backhanded him. Leo slammed up against the wall and lost the grip on his swords. He lost sight of them as Hun wrapped his hand around his neck and lifted him off the ground, "What is the meaning of this intrusion." Hun asked in a grunt.

Leo tried to speak, but felt the intense pain in his chest grow larger and Hun squeezed tighter on his neck. A cough attack launched up to his throat, but couldn't escape due to Hun's massive grip.

Hun's eyes were full of hate as he grinned and squeezed tighter, Leo felt faint, numb. His vision grew dark as the pain in his chest skyrocketed. Then a quick thought came to his mind. He quickly reached into his belt, pulled out a throwing star and slammed it down into Hun's face, impaling him through the cheek. Hun screamed, dropped Leo and pulled the star out of his cheek.

Leo grabbed his own neck and gasped for air as violent coughs flooded out. As he coughed and hacked for air, Hun recovered, "Goddamn turtle!" Hun screamed, forcing the star out of his skin and launching it at Leo.

…

"My son, I have been watching you and your brothers very closely recently."

Raph's face flattened, "Yeah?"

Splinter took a deep breath, "But I've have been bothered recently."

Raph frowned, feeling guilty, "Bothered by what?"

Splinter looked into Raph's eye, feeling the tear roll down his face, "Leonardo."

….

Leo managed to dodge it and roll out of the way of Hun's next attack. He planted his foot into Hun's side with force and pushed himself up for his swords. Before he could find it, Hun grabbed a painting from the wall and smashed it against the back of Leo's head.

Leo hit the ground, ears ringing, nothing but white filled his vision. Hun grunted, hand placed firmly against the gash on his cheek. He looked up and spotted one of Leo's swords, grinned, and wrapped his large hand around it.

"Looking for this?" Hun said softly, whirling around and gazing the side of Leo's thigh. Leo shouted and grabbed is new injury, still unable to see clearly. Hun stood up and rammed the but end of the sword into Leo's head. Leo hit the ground once more, tasting the blood in the back on his throat, coughing violently.

"Time to end this."

…..

"Splinter?" Raph said worried, spotting the tear.

Splinter raised a hand, casually wiping the tear away, "I have noticed trouble things about him. He's…become reckless….irresponsible."

Raph felt his heart hammer rapidly inside his chest.

"We can't have that," Splinter said, "Not now."

…

Hun raised the sword high above Leo's head. Leo felt his vision slowly come back to him, and the first thing he saw was the beautiful, shiny metal laying behind the couch. He managed to grab it just as Hun forced the other sword toward Leo's neck. Leo rolled upright and stopped the sword from coming any closer.

Hun's eyes widened as Leo grinned, then smashed his foot into his stomach. Hun tumbled backwards, but managed to keep his balance. Leo pushed himself to his feet and glared at Hun, tightening the grip on his sword.

…

"Now, it is no secret that my time here is slowly coming to an end." Splinter said softly.

Raph instantly felt his eyes burn as Splinter continued to talk.

"And when I'm gone. One of you must stand up and lead the others." Splinter said softly, then lowered his head and started at the floor as another tear trickled down his face. "And…I am afraid Leonardo does not fit that duty any longer."

…..

"You know you've already been a pain in my ass!" Hun shouted, then charged at Leo. Leo raised his sword in the air and slashed Hun's chest as he passed. Hun shouted, looking down at his wound.

"How dare you!" He shouted, then swung the sword and lifted his foot. Leo dodged the sword, but took Hun's foot in the gut . It sent him across the room and into the wall, cracking it on impact.

He caught his breath and looked up just as Hun began to charge at him, sword tight in his grip and blade pointed at Leo's chest.

Everything went in slow motion, Leo noticed the broken chair leg on the floor next to him. It had a thick nail jutting out of the end of it. As Hun drew closer, Leo quickly grabbed the chair leg and swung it at Hun. It impaled Hun in the knee, causing him to scream and fall forward. On pure instinct and adrenaline, Leo stuck his sword out and felt as Hun fell onto the blade.

Leo didn't move for a few second, he felt Hun's dead weight on him, crushing him slightly. He inhaled largely, then exhaled, feeling the shakiness of his breath.

He moved slightly, then looked at the blade protruding out of Hun's back, covered in blood.

….

"But Splinter…Leo's been the leader for years." Raph said softly.

Splinter nodded, "Yes, and a very good one at that. But recent events have proven otherwise."

Raph was at a loss for words. "But…I don't understand."

Splinter took a deep breath, "Raphael, I want you to lead your brothers after me."

…

Saki sat in his chair, smiling widely as he stared out the window. If all went according to plan, the turtle should be dead and the foot should be returning shortly. For some reason, he felt good inside, as if a huge weight has been lifted off his shoulders. Now it's time to think about his brother's demise.

Just as he thought this, the door behind him opened with a creak, his smiled widened, "I hope you are here to bring me good news." Saki said.

No response.

Saki's eyebrows lowered in confusion. He stood and turned around, his eyes widened as his heart sank when he saw the turtle standing in his room, bloodied, beaten.

"The Hun is dead." He said softly.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Stories picking up now. Just wait till you see what i have in store for you guys. **_

_**So here's to you, my awesome readers. **_

_**Enjoy**_

* * *

Chapter 5

Saki stood on the edge of the building, the exact building where his right hand man resided. But Hun wasn't only his right hand man, he was his protector, his friend. Saki sighed and rubbed his pupils, recalling fond memories with him. He glanced down at the police car below and watched the paramedics carry the overly large body bag into the car, shut the doors, then drive away.

Saki felt empty, not only empty, but pure hatred. Hatred for the turtle, he couldn't understand how he got ahold of his real address, he disobeyed him and did not follow orders.

But Saki also knew he couldn't act on his urge to just slit the turtles throat. He did in fact follow his assignment, so instead of ending his life, Saki decided to take a different approach.

The turtle should be on his way, Saki felt an odd, nervous feeling linger in his chest. Like…he was afraid of the turtle. But that's impossible, he's been going years with striking fear into the turtles, but now all of a sudden, he takes out Saki's right hand man, and now all of a sudden he's the boogeyman?

It didn't make any sense, but Saki couldn't help but feel fear whenever he even thought of the puny turtle. The more fear he felt, the angrier he got. He felt weak when thinking of the turtle, Hun has defeated the turtles when it was all four of them, but then one comes along and ends him like it was nothing.

Something was off, and Saki knew.

But before he could ponder that thought, he heard the turtle land on the roof behind him. He took a breath, turning slowly.

"Hello turtle."

Leo shot him a scowl, "I have a name."

Saki ignored him and turned back around, facing the New York skyline. "Here's the deal, turtle." He glared at him as he said it, "You killed my right hand man."

"Only because you told me too!" Leo quickly shouted.

Saki frowned, "Yes…yes of course." He said, feeling his anger and hatred in the bottom of his gut. "Now…because of his death." Saki turned around and faced Leo, "You will take his place as my right hand man."

Leo felt his heart plummet, "That wasn't part of the deal."

"It is now."

Leo wanted nothing more then to turn away now and give it up, but he couldn't, and he knew it. He sighed, then nodded.

"Good," Saki reached into his pocket, "Take this."

He pulled his hand out and held out a small pager. Leo looked at it, "What's this?" He asked, taking it from him.

"Hun's pager."

Leo looked at the pager, a constant reminder of what he did to Hun. It made him feel even worse.

Saki could see the hurt in his eyes. Sure, he was a great warrior, but he wasn't a killer, and knowing that Hun's death is also killing him, that made Saki feel a bit better. Saki pulled out a small pager out of his own pocket, then pushed the button.

A second later, the pager in Leo's hand vibrated and gave of a small beep. "When that pager goes off, expect you to be at the foot headquarters, ready for another assignment."

Leo clenched the pager, shutting his eyes.

"Until next time, turtle."

Leo opened is eyes and felt a chill go down his spine when he saw Saki was gone. He sighed and looked back down at the pager, knowing that Saki has him at a push of a button.

…

"Sensei you can't be serious!" Mikey shouted.

"Michelangelo…calm down."

"No!" Mikey shouted, "Leo suddenly becomes reckless and you decided to strip him of his leader position and give it to Raph!" He said, slightly disgusted.

"I have to agree with Mikey on this one." Don chipped in, "Everyone makes mistakes Sensei."

Raph crossed is arms, furious to see his brothers' reaction. Mikey was on his feet, Don and Leo were on the couch. Mikey and Don seemed into it, but Leo was leaning back on the couch, as if trying to be invisible.

"Ok so what if he comes home with new injuries, that doesn't mean he shouldn't be leader!" Mikey shouts.

"So what are you guys saying? I won't make a good leader?" Raph grunted.

"Raph, come on! Even you have to agree this isn't right." Don said, "Leo has been the leader for years, and now suddenly things change? It just seems wrong."

Leo looked away as they continued arguing, Raph's voice grew louder, and surprisingly, so did Mikey's. Of course, Don was the voice of reason, trying to alleviate the situation. Leo didn't feel right, he's risking his life, doing what is right to protect his family, and he is stripped of his leader position.

Leo couldn't help but feel betrayed.

"Enough!" Splinter snapped, voice harsh. Mikey, Don, and Raph jerked their head toward him. Leo continued looking away. "My decision is final." He said, then walked off, heading to his room.

Raph sighed, "Sorry Leo," He said softly, sounding actually sorry.

Mikey puffed and stormed away.

Raph shook his head, walking off into the training room. Don didn't move, he stayed near Leo. "You ok?" Don asked softly.

Leo didn't respond right away, he still couldn't gather up the feelings he was feeling, "My family is going against me." Leo said softly as tears formed, "How do you think I feel?"

Don placed his hand on Leo's shoulder, "We're not going against you Leo, you heard Mikey, no matter what Splinter says, you're always the leader." Don said.

Leo's eyes burnt as a tear slid down his face. He inhaled, then looked at Don. Thoughts rushed through his head.

_"Don, I have cancer." _

He bit his lip.

He wanted to scream, to just let it all out, to show his brothers what he's doing for them.

"Look," Leo said, wiping the tear away, "I know I haven't been the best leader," He said, then puffed, "Or even the best brother."

Don smiled.

"But you guys are everything to me, and I just want to be the one you guys count on."

Don chuckled, "Leo, you are the one we count on."

Leo frowned, "Raph will be a great leader, you just have to give him a chance." Leo said, pushing himself out of the cough and walking off, leaving Don alone.

He suddenly felt a surge of depression. Was Leo giving up? It was as if he didn't even care that he was suddenly not the leader. Mikey seemed to be the most upset, no one knew why, but he took It the hardest.

Don watched as Leo walked upstairs and into his room. He didn't know where Raph and Mikey went, but he slumped back into the couch. He couldn't stop thinking about Mikey for some reason, and why he took this thing so hard.

Don stood up and made his way toward Mikey's room, he knocked on the door, "Mikey?" He said softly.

"Please…I don't feel like talking."

Don sighed, suddenly feeling depressed. He leaned up against the door and slid down to the floor, holding his head in his hands.

….

"Change of plan." Saki said entering the dojo where Karai stood alone, practicing.

"Since you are incapable of following plans," Saki grunted. Karai tightened the grip on her sword, feeling new waves of anger rush through her. "You will be accompanying our new apprentice in his assignments."

This part was a surprise to Karai.

Saki didn't say anything else and walked out, leaving Karai alone.

She pondered this thought as she returned to her training, her and Leonardo would be teaming up for their next assignment. Karai didn't know how to feel about that, Leonardo took on Hun all by himself and won. He didn't need Karai, so why is Saki putting them together.

Karai didn't know, but she felt that he put them together for a reason he's not saying. Suddenly, Saki stopped, "There's a pager in your room, if you are away, I will use it to call you and the turtle." He said simply, then walked out.

Karai felt as though she was being downgraded. Saki started treating her like crap ever since Leo joined them. She didn't understand, but she needed some air.

…

Raph didn't feel like practicing, he just paced in the training room, thinking. He is the new leader, his brothers should be proud, he wondered why they were acting like this.

He shook his head and stepped out of the training room, heading upstairs to his room. He stopped on the top of the stairs, spotting Don sitting on the floor in front of Mikey's door.

"Don!" He said sharply, "Are you ok?" He asked, quickly kneeling down next to him. Don didn't move, he just stiffened.

"Don?" Raph asked softly.

"I'm fine." He said, lifting his head up.

"It's not like you to just sit in front of Mikey's door and sulk…what's the matter?"

Don sighed, wondering if he could go into full detail with Raph.

"Doesn't something seem off to you? Like nothing is going right?" Don asked.

Raph knew what he was talking about, he to thought that this family was disintegrating, "Yeah, I've noticed it for a while."

Don didn't respond, and Raph noticed, "But so what?" He said with exaggeration, "Just because we're going through a tough spot doesn't mean we have to lose sight of what's really going on." Raph said, "We're a family, and we can get through anything. I'm sure this whole thing will blow over soon and we can get back to the normality of things."

Don was shocked, Raph never got in depth like that. Don glanced up at Raph just as he shot him a toothy grin, then Raph stood up and held his hand out, "Want something to eat?"

Don contemplated, but for once, smiled, and took Raph's hand.

….

Leo sighed deeply as he slumped down into his bed, he was still exhausted from last night. Hun beat him pretty good, Leo still felt the bruises and cuts from their fight.

He then thought about what Splinter said, telling them all that he wasn't leader anymore. Leo felt a small surge of betrayal, not that he wasn't leader anymore, but how Splinter told them. He didn't pull Leo aside and tell him personally, he didn't even give Leo warning, like he didn't care what Leo felt or had to say.

But he understood, Leo was reckless recently. Keeping secrets, sneaking off, getting into fights. But he wished they could understand that he's doing it for them.

Suddenly, something in his drawer vibrated.

His head jerked toward it, already knowing what it was. He groaned, "That was quick." He said with a sneer.

He pushed himself toward the desk and pulled open the drawer, spotting the pager next to his note. He frowned upon seeing the note, ignored his urge to reread it and grabbed the pager. When he looked at it, he saw a message.

_Meet me at the building overlooking central park_

Leo groaned irritably and slung his swords over his shoulder, strapping them in tightly.

Leo thought to himself as he silently exited his room. Saki isn't one for breaks, Leo just got his ass handed to him yesterday and Saki isn't done. He wondered what would happen if he finishes all the assignments, what would Saki have him do then?

Leo shook the thought away, not wanting to get to ahead of himself. He crept down the stairs and listened, Mikey was still in his room, he didn't know where Splinter was, and it sounded like Don and Raph were in the kitchen.

He grinned, then headed for the door.

"And where do you think you are going?"

Leo froze, the deep, raspy voice shot fear into his body, but he didn't understand why. "I'm going out."

"And where to my son?"

Leo tensed, "I need some air."

"Take one of your brothers, I'm sure they can use the air." Splinter said, hovering next to the door. "I'd rather go alone, I need some time to myself."

Splinter scowled, as if he can see right through Leo, "I'm sure you've had plenty of alone time the past few days you've gone up to the surface."

Leo sighed, not knowing how to respond.

Splinter lowered his eyes, "Is there anything you would like to tell me Leonardo?"

Leo's face flattened.

_Yes, yes father there is, I've been going out and working with the Shredder to protect you guys because I have cancer and I want to know that you guys will be safe when I'm not here anymore. _

"No." Leo said softly, "Everything's fine."

Splinter frowned, eyes closed, then he sighed softly, "Very well." He stepped aside, "You may go."

Leo nodded, then walked pass him and out of the lair.

…..

Leo landed peacefully on top of the building and waited, glancing over the edge. He noticed that he hasn't coughed a lot, maybe it's a sign that he's getting better? But even he knew that it was impossible. Cancer is cancer, no getting rid of it if you're a giant mutant turtle.

"Leonardo!" A female voice yells.

Leo froze, knowing that the voice was familiar, it just wasn't expected.

"What are you doing here?" Leo asked.

Karai stepped next to him, gazing out over the edge. "I came to talk."

Leo turned and faced her, leaning on the edge. "Where's Saki?"

Karai tilted her head down, "He doesn't know that we are talking." Leo felt his heart begin to race with curiosity, but before he could ask her another question, she answered, "I called on here."

Leo chuckled softly, "Oh great, now you can call me whenever."

He began to walk away before Karai grabbed his shoulder, "Leonardo, He is making us work together."

Leo scoffed, thrashing his hand away from Karai, "I don't need your help."

"I don't think you have a choice." Karai said quickly. "Well too bad because I'm not working with you."

"You think I want to work with you too?" Karai protested.

"Well I've always made the mistake of trusting you, and I'm not prepared to do it again." Leo shouted, feeling the coughing randomly start to come back.

"You don't have to trust me, I'm just letting you know before Saki does, and so you don't make the foolish mistake you are know." Karai said, Leo sneered and turned away, Karai grabbed him again and turned him to face her, "You know yourself that if you refuse to work with me that Saki will not hesitate to end your deal and attack your brothers." Karai said, not knowing if Saki still has any plan of turning against him.

Leo stayed quite, resenting every word she said.

"Listen," She said, "I know the situation you're in. I can't say I know what you're going through, but I can tell that it's tough. I understand what you are doing Leonardo, I understand what you are going through for your brothers. And I have no intention to stop you."

Leo didn't respond, his eyes stared to the ground. Karai sighed, letting his shoulder go. Leo turned away and walked away from Karai, leaving her alone with the aching thought that Saki still has intentions on turning against him and his family. Even after death.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Ugh! Stories picking up a lot now! There are so many things i want to do but it's still too early. I really can't wait for you guys to see what's going to happen when the story unfolds. **_

_**Enjoy my lovely readers**_

* * *

Chapter 6

Leatherhead groaned and slammed his pencil down on the desk, leaning forward. He closed his eyes and clenched his fists, feeling nothing but stress and anger. "I need to focus or Leonardo dies." He said to himself.

"If I don't find something, Leonardo dies, and it will be all my fault." That's when he felt it. The anger. The beast inside. He clenched his teeth as he felt the hot anger boil inside, "It will be all my fault." He growled, "Leonardo will die because I can't help him!"

Suddenly, he lost control. His eyes snapped open, pupils changing. "Leonardo will die!" He screamed, raising his hands in the air, "And it will be MY FAULT!" He slammed his hands down onto the desk, shattering it in two on impact. He staggered back into the wall, sliding down to the ground, holding his head in his hands.

"What is wrong with me?" He gasped softly.

Ever since he found out Leo had cancer, he has been trying his hardest to find a cure or at least something to help him. But everything he's tried just doesn't add up.

He needed help.

But Don couldn't know about Leo. It doesn't matter, Leo needs this, and Don can help.

He sighed, reached over and grabbed the phone off the hook. After typing in the numbers, he held the phone up to his ear.

"Hello?" The voice on the other end said.

"Donatello, my friend…are you busy?"

"I don't think so, what's up?"

Leatherhead sighed, "I…I need your help with something."

Don sensed the worry and sadness in his voice, "Sure, I'll be down there as soon as I can."

Leatherhead didn't bother saying goodbye, or even hang up the phone. Instead he loosened his grip and let it fall down to the floor. He knew with Don's help, he could at least get somewhere with his work, but what will he tell him. Leonardo doesn't want him to say anything about the cancer, so how does he get Don to help without spilling the secret.

…..

Don twirled his bo staff on one hand and snapped his fingers with the other, softly singing a song he had just heard on the radio.

"_And bury me in all my favorite colors, _

_My sisters and my brothers, still, _

_I will not kiss you, _

_'Cause the hardest part of this is leaving you."_

He turned down the tunnel and continued, keeping on singing his song. He thought about what Raph told him yesterday, and somehow, it made him feel better. Mikey still isn't talking as much as he use to, but he'll get over it.

Leo still looked like he was running a fever, Don had asked him if he needed anything, but Leo said he was fine and that he just needed some rest. He also thought about Splinter, he wasn't acting like himself. He recently had been shutting himself off in his room, only coming out to eat and check up on them. Other then that, it's like he wasn't even there.

Don swiftly tossed the bo to his other hand and casually continued snapping along to his song.

Leatherhead sounded pretty flustered, Don wondered what could be going on in his head. Had he been working himself to hard? And if so, what is he working on that's getting him so stressed? Don didn't understand, but he was glad to help out.

He stopped in front of Leatherhead's door and entered. The first thing he saw is Leatherhead's desk, smashed to pieces. His panic rose as he quickly scanned the room for Leatherhead. In no time, he found him sitting up against the wall, looking exhausted.

"LH!" Don shouted, holstering his staff and quickly running to his side, "What's wrong?" He said.

Leatherhead didn't respond, but Don glanced back at the broken desk, already having an idea of what happened. "LH, I thought you controlled this." Don said softly.

"I thought so myself." Leatherhead said, covering his face in shame. "I don't know what happened, I just…got angry."

"Why? What are you doing?"

Leatherhead hesitated for a moment, staying silent to think. Don held out his hand, "Come on, I'll get you some water."

Leatherhead looked up at him, smiled a bit and grasped his hand. Don helped him up and Don sat him down in his desk chair, leaving him to get some water. "Thank you my friend."

"Don't mention it." Don said, pouring water into the cup. "So what are you working on?"

Leatherhead sighed, it's now or never. He had a plan, but it was way too massive to go through with. But now it looks like he has no choice.

"Donatello." Leatherhead said soft yet seriously.

Don grabbed the cup of water and faced Leatherhead.

Leatherhead frowned, "I have cancer."

Everything in Don's body froze, fingers going numb, allowing the cup of water to slip through them and crash to the floor. Don had to stop for a second, making sure that what he heard was true. "W-What?" Was all he could say.

Leatherhead closed his eyes, upset at his friends' reaction, but more upset at himself, for allowing himself to stoop so low as to lie to his friend.

"I'm sorry Donatello."

Don quickly grabbed the sink for support, unable to feel his legs. "What…I…" He stammered, still at a loss of words.

Leatherhead wanted nothing more then to end this moment, so he pressed on with what was actually the truth, "I've been up day and night to try and look for a cure, or at least something to help."

Don fought back the urge to tear up and take a deep breath, "Leatherhead…I'm…I'm so sorry."

Leatherhead nodded his head softly.

"But…" Don continued, "If real doctors haven't found a cure yet, then there's a chance we wont. But I have been researching this stuff, you know…just incase."

Leatherhead tensed.

"I have a few methods to help you, but I'm going to need to go back to the lair to get my stuff."

Leatherhead nodded, Don looked around the place, "You shouldn't be alone, why don't you come back and stay with us for a while."

Leatherhead smiled, "Thank you, I would appreciate that."

….

"Father?" Raph said softly. Opening the door slightly to see his father meditating in the middle of the floor. "Yes my son?" He said.

"Don and Leatherhead are here, Leatherhead has something to tell us." Raph explained. Splinter opened his eyes and nodded, "Very well."

He got up and followed Raph out of the room and into the main room where he saw Leatherhead standing next to the couch, "Hello Leatherhead."

Leatherhead lowered his head, "Hello."

Raph took a seat on the couch next to Leo, who still looked on ther verge of passing out. "You ok? Need anything?" Raph asked.

Leo shook his head, "I'm fine."

Leatherhead looked at Leo, feeling an odd feeling that he couldn't describe. Mikey was standing behind the couch, arms crossed, still looked as if he was in a bad mood.

Once everyone was seated, Leatherhead coughed nervously and moved in front of everyone. "So what is it LH?" Raph asked anxiously.

Leatherhead felt his heart hammer as he took a deep breath, "There isn't a easy way to say this." He said, noticing Leo's sudden interest.

Then, he said it. "I have cancer."

There was a moment of complete silence. Don shook his head, trying to fight back the tears once again. Mikey stopped pacing and looked up at Leatherhead, completely shocked. Raph's eyes snapped open, filled with sudden shock. Splinter looked as if it was nothing, eyes closed, head lowered.

Leo stared at Leatherhead in a mixture of confusion and shock, and a little bit of anger and fear. Leatherhead glanced at Leo, shaking his head softly.

No one said anything. And Don noticed. "But," He said suddenly, "LH and I are going to work together and try to help him get out of this."

"Yeah," Leatherhead said, glaring at Leo, "Because that's what family is for. I told you guys because I know you guys will support me, and help me out of it." He said, not taking his eyes off of Leo.

Shock and confusion left Leo in a breath, anger replaced what was left.

….

Leatherhead was in kitchen, discussing his 'cancer' with Splinter as Don rummaged through his lab, trying to find his notes. Raph and Mikey were watching TV, silently trying to wrap their head around the news. Leo was standing in the kitchen, looking in the cabinets for something that will stop his massive headache.

In anger, Leo turned around, "Sensei, may I speak with Leatherhead alone please."

Splinter looked up at Leo in surprise, "Uh, of course." He said, picking up his mug to take a sip. "In the tunnel." Leo said as he began to walk.

Leatherhead took a deep breath, "I will be back Master Splinter."

Splinter nodded and Leatherhead stood up and followed Leo into the tunnel. The lair door shut and Leo rubbed his aching head, "Leatherhead, what the hell are you doing?" Leo asked in a growl.

Leatherhead leaned up against the wall, "Having faith in your family."

Leo's anger boiled, "What are you saying?"

"Leonardo, like I said, I don't agree with what you are doing, but if you think it's right. Then do it. So I'm doing what I think is right." Leatherhead said.

"Leatherhead…you didn't have to." Leo said softly.

"Yes…I did." Leatherhead said, "Because I don't like knowing that you're giving up and doing this to yourself."

"Who said anything about giving up?" Leo shouted.

Leatherhead frowned, "Tell me again why you decided to join Saki?"

Leo's face flattened, "Because, I'm doing this so Saki would leave them alone when…you know."

Leatherhead chuckled, "So you are giving up."

"No I'm not!"

"You said it yourself! There was no 'if' in that statement, only 'when'." Leatherhead started to get loud, "You said so Saki would leave them alone when…what exactly?"

Leo frowned, lowering his head, silent.

"You can't even answer that question…can you?" Leatherhead muttered softly.

Just then, something in Leo's belt beeped. He looked down and saw the pager blink. "What's that?" Leatherhead asked.

Leo sighed, "It's Saki, he has another assignment for me."

Leatherhead frowned, "Go, I got you covered down here."

Leo felt even worse as he smiled, nodded and turned toward the ladder. "Leonardo!" Leatherhead called.

He glanced back.

"Be careful."

Leo nodded, then climbed up the ladder.

Leatherhead sighed and walked back into the lair. Splinter was walking toward the stairs, "Where is Leonardo?" He asked.

"He needed some time alone to think about…you know…this." Leatherhead said as casually as he could.

…

Leonardo walked through the corridors of the foot building, yet again, two foot ninja's escorting him. He tried his hardest to forget about Leatherhead and everything. He hated what Leatherhead was doing, mostly because he was lying to his family because of Leo. But the worst part is that Leo is already to deep into his own lie that he can't get out.

He also couldn't help but think if Leatherhead and Don do help him, and he ends up miraculously living through this. What will he do about Saki?

Before he could go more in depth with the thought, he entered Saki's room and saw him and Karai standing there, waiting for him.

"You know, since I am your right hand man and all," He said with a hint of sarcasm. "I don't think you need to have foot ninja's breathing down my neck all the time." He found it hard to talk, his head was on fire and he had all different kind of aches all over his body.

"You can never be to careful turtle." Saki said.

Leo felt a twinge of hate after every time he referred to him as 'turtle'. Saki smiled, noticing his sudden hate and walked over to grab a file on his desk. He walked back and handed it to Karai. "I decided that you need help this time." Saki said.

Leo went to argue, but Karai shot him a warning look, shaking her head softly. Leo gritted his teeth, keeping his mouth shut. "This is your new assignment." He said.

Karai glared angrily at the back of Saki's head, without him knowing. She opened the file and examined it. Leo anxiously stared at the file, wondering what the assignment could be. If it was anything like what he had to do last time, then he was glad to have Karai at his side. He could barely move, let alone try and fight. Karai moved next to Leo and gave him the file. Leo took it and opened it, instantly seeing a picture of a small warehouse and a small piece of paper with an address on it.

"What's this?" Leo asked.

Saki glared at Karai, she frowned and stood next to Leo. "This is a purple dragons hideout. It was the one Hun was at the most."

Leo looked up from the file and at Saki, "Ok?"

"Hun kept a lot of the foot secrets and technology in here. And now that he's dead, someone else is going to step up." Saki's face fell into a smug, "We can't have him seeing any of those secrets. So that's where you come in."

"So you want us to go in and steal it back."

Saki shook his head, "I want you to burn the warehouse to the ground."

"What!?" Karai and Leo said together.

Saki smiled, "Hun was paranoid, he never kept any of his secrets in one place. He had safes all around the hideout. And there lies your next problem. You don't know any of the combinations, none of the purple dragons do. The only person who knew that combination is dead." He turned and smiled at Leo. Leo frowned, still somewhat guilty.

"So yes, burning down the entire hideout is your only option."

Karai went to speak, but Saki silenced her, "And no, it doesn't matter if everyone gets out. Karai, you are my only priority." He said, then looked at Leo, "Turtle, try not to get burned."

Leo bit the inside of his cheek, forcing himself to stay quiet. Karai noticed, and quickly nodded, "Yes master, we will return when we are successful." She said, pulling Leo out of the room. Saki smiled, "Good." He said, taking a seat.

…

Leo sat in the passenger seat of Karai's car, head in hand, leaning up against the door. Karai was driving, mainly because she knew where to go.

Leo never thought he's be sitting in a car with Karai, let alone in the passenger side. Something about that didn't sit well with him, he didn't know why.

"How are we going to do this?" Karai asked, trying to get rid of the awkward tension. Leo shrugged, not taking his eyes off the window. Karai frowned, that conversation went nowhere.

Karai thought I'd be best to drive instead of walking. She wanted the two of them to keep our energy if something happens to go wrong. But its just odd, Leo is a ninja turtle, him in a regular car just seemed odd to him.

"How long until we get there?" Leo asked.

She turned into an alley and continued slowly, "Shouldn't be long now."

Karai couldn't help but feel sorry for Leo, he doesn't deserve to do this. He shouldn't be risking his life like this. But Karai understood, so she decided to keep her thought to herself. She wanted to let him know what Saki's intentions were, but she couldn't prove that he still had those intentions. It could have been a one time thing, but knowing Saki, he still probably has something up his sleeve.

She spotted the warehouse and stopped the car. They both got out of the car and snuck toward the warehouse. "How do we proceed?" Karai asked.

Leo thought about it, "I think it's better to just pour the gasoline on the outside, avoid going in at all."

Karai nodded and moved to the back of the car to get the gasoline. Leo stayed in the front and scoped out the warehouse, making sure that no one is outside. Once Karai got the gasoline canisters, she handed one to Leo and they both proceeded to the warehouse.

They circled around to the side and stopped, "Alright, you stay here and start pouring, I'll go to the other side and pour there to make this place burn faster."

Leo nodded and unscrewed the cap. Karai left Leo and went around to the other side. When she got there, she knelt down and unscrewed the cap. Before she poured, she stopped, hearing voices. She kept her breathing down as she spotted a window. Biting her lip, she crept up to the window and listened.

"Ok, the Shredder contacted us, the turtle and Karai should be on their way."

Karai's heart dropped, she covered her mouth as she dropped to the floor, unable to believe what she is hearing. Then the thought hit her. "Leonardo." She gasped softly. Then ran around the building and to where she left Leo.

A cold sweat trickled down her face when she saw that Leo was gone. Instead, there was a puddle of fresh blood lingering next to the spilled canister of gasoline.

"Oh no."

Suddenly, she heard footsteps circling around the warehouse. Instinct kicked in as she jumped up, grabbed the edge of the roof, kicked her feet up and gracefully landed in a crouched position on the roof.

Karai manage to get away just as the purple dragons showed up to investigate. "No sign of Karai." One of them say.

"It's alright, we've got the turtle. That's all the master wanted."

….

Leatherhead stepped out of lair and into the tunnel, needing some time to think. After looking over Don's notes, it all still doesn't seem enough. What Don is think will only numb the side effects, not completely get rid of, or give Leo more time.

Leatherhead rubbed his head, having an idea. He's been thinking about this for a while, but always decided against it because of how insane it is. But…what's the worst that can happen.

Leatherhead sighed, pulled out Donnie's shell cell that he took from his desk. He flipped it open and went into contacts, pushed April's number and held the phone to his ear.

In no time, April picked up, "Hey Donnie, what's up?"

"Uhh," Leatherhead said nervously, "This isn't Don."

April was quiet, "Leatherhead? Is that you?"

"Yeah."

It was quiet after that, kind of awkward.

"Umm…what's up?" April asked.

"I think I know a way to help Leo."

April's voice suddenly sounded hurried, "How?"

"I need you to find me a number."

"Yeah ok, whose?"

Leatherhead lowered his head, knowing he isn't going to get a good response. He told April whose number he needed, then it got quiet again.

"Leatherhead, are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Right now, Its our only option."

April was hesitant, but she agreed. After about ten minutes of waiting, April came back and gave Leatherhead the number. Leatherhead ended the call and looked at the phone nervously. Should he go through with this? Is he this desperate to save his friend?

He took a deep breath, then pushed in the numbers. After a few rings, he picked up.

"This is Bishop, is this important?"


	7. Chapter 7

_**Don't worry guys, school is almost over and i'll be graduating soon, after that...vacation! Which means faster chapter uploads!**_

_**So with that, enjoy this meaty and intense new chapter!**_

_**Yours truly**_  
_**Jet**_

* * *

Chapter 7

_The lair was quiet, no sign of the turtles. The lair had sort of an empty feeling to it, as if after all these years, it still wasn't enough to be called home. It has become more of an empty shell. It felt almost haunting, it was so quiet that your mind would start playing tricks on you. Like hearing footsteps, or voices, calling your name, but you know that none of it is real. _

_ But what happened next was real. _

_ An explosion, starting in the kitchen, crumbling everything that came in its way. Wooden shards from the table went flying through the lair with so much force that the sharp ones stuck into the couch. _

_ Then the next explosion goes off, this one in the main room, making the TV explode and causing an even greater explosion. The couch was obliterated in second, turning into nothing but ash and traces of yarn. Precious family photo's are ruined in seconds, books from the bookshelf turned to ash. The explosion sparked another, more major one to come out of Don's lab. Ruining every small thing that he has spent years working on. _

_ Then explosions from their rooms erupted, starting from Raph's, then Mikey's, then Don's, and ending with Leo's. The second floor crumbled easily and dropped into pieces on the first floor. _

_ The explosions were so massive, that it caused the road above the lair to crack and rumble. Innocent citizens stopped and exchanged worried glances as they felt the floor shake and tremble. _

_ Unable to hold itself anymore, the road collapsed and fell into the lair, causing cars and helpless people to come cascading in. The lair was covered in a sheet of broken road and cars in mere seconds. _

_ A burnt piece of paper flew aimlessly in the wind, dancing as it flip flopped through the air, then rested peacefully on the ground. The paper was burnt, only showing a small piece. _

and I'm sorry…for everything.

Leo

….

Splinter sat in the middle of his floor, eyes closed, mind at rest for once. Lately he's been so stressed and bothered that it's nice to actually sit down and relax. His son's have been on edge lately, and he knew he wasn't helping, being like this. Quiet and distant.

But his sons had to learn how to live without him around. It's not hidden that Splinter's time is coming. It seems wrong to do this, but distancing himself from his sons is the only way they will learn to accept and live without him. It will be hard regardless, but Splinter wants to try and make the suffering easier. And this is the only way he can see fit.

It hurts him to think that Leo hasn't spoken to him much recently, they use to talk constantly, but now that Raph is the new leader, Leo just seems so withdrawn. Splinter doesn't blame him, he knew that he didn't tell his sons the best way. Or even ask Leo what was going on.

Before he could go too deep into thought, the door burst open behind him. Splinter jolted out of his relaxation and turned toward the door, seeing Mikey. "Michelangelo, what is the meaning of this intrusion?"

Mikey glared at Splinter and wiped his lip, "I'm just trying to get a sense of where your head is." He said, poking his head, "Because life was good, you know? Purple dragons gone, Shredder silent, and then you felt it was necessary to just blow Leo off and make Raph top dog."

Splinter suddenly felt fear, he felt his son was upset, but by the way he was speaking and moving, he seemed not himself. "Michelangelo, please…sit down."

Mikey ignored him and continued, "All Leo wants is to protect us and guide us."

"Raphael also has those intentions." Splinter said quickly, not liking his decision to be mocked.

"Look, I love Raph just like I love Leo and Don, but look at this." Mikey said, taking a newspaper clipping out of his belt and tossing it to the ground near Splinter. He looked down and saw the headline.

_ 'Purple Dragon leader found dead'_

Splinter's eyes widened as he looked back up at Mikey, "Hun?"

"Keep reading." Mikey ordered.

Splinter picked up the torn paper and read the article.

"_The body of Hunter Mason was found late Monday night. He is the notorious gang leader of the purple dragons who also goes by the name of Hun. His body was found by police after the neighbors called because of sounds of fighting. His body was found with what appeared to be wounds from a blade. No further comments have been released_."

"Blade…you know like a sword." Mikey said in a growl.

Splinter looked up from the article, not knowing what to say.

"Father…Leo killed Hun." Mikey said softly, "He did what the four of us together couldn't do." He continued, "If that isn't determination," He walked to the door, "Then I don't know what is." He closed the door, leaving Splinter with this new information.

….

Raph sat on the edge of a building, gazing out at the New York rooftops. For once, he felt at peace, even in these troubling times. Leatherhead's disease, everyone resenting Raph's new position, Leo becoming detached with everyone. He thought of some ways to fix everything. The only thing he can think of it talking to Leo and Mikey. Don is already kind of on Raph's side, but not completely. Talk to Leo about why he's so distant lately, and talk to Mikey to figure out why he's resenting Raph.

And as for Leatherhead, well…lets just hope Don and him can find something.

Raph rested his head on his knees, feeling like there's something else bothering him. Did Leo ever feel like this as leader? Being stressed for no reason.

Raph couldn't help but think about Leo's leadership. If Raph is leader now, and having trouble. He couldn't imagine what it must have been like when Shredder and Stockman and Bishop and them wanted them dead. Having that constant thought that you could be attacked any minute. Leo was strong, and Raph was scared that he wasn't as strong as Leo.

…

Karai quickly looked around the rooftop, mind rushing. She couldn't believe that Saki was behind all this.

She heard the sound of a door open and close, turned her head and spotted a window on the ceiling, leading into a room in the warehouse. She bit her lip, afraid of what would happen if they found her. Had her own father gone against her as well? Is he really this hell-bent on getting rid of the turtles that he would sacrifice his own daughter?

She didn't know, but what she did know is that it would be a wise idea to stay in the shadows. She crept quietly across the roof, getting down on her hand and knees, stopping just before the window, She heard the sound of handcuffs being cuffed and the sound of a mighty fist slamming against a jaw.

"Master says he wants us to just get rid of him quickly." She heard someone say.

"I know, and we will…but first, I want to have a little fun with this one."

She felt her heart hammer, horrified at what has happened. But then she thought about it.

She could leave…right now…walk away and tell her father that Leo is finally dead. And that his brothers are next. And after that Saki would engage an all-out attack to get the turtles out of their hiding place and finally get rid of them. Of course, Saki would keep one…maybe two. Just as trophies. And Saki would have everything he wants.

And he could, if she walked away right now.

As she argued silently in her head. The Purple dragons' continued brutally beating Leo. She could hear every powerful blow that they landed on him. She sighed, knowing she could not leave Leo like this.

She turned toward the window and peeked inside. Leo was handcuffed to a chair in the middle of the room. The Purple dragons circled him like vultures, one holding a baseball bat, the other had brass knuckles.

She couldn't let it continue, she unsheathed her sword, kept a firm grip on the handle and launched herself in the air, then kicked her foot out and smashed through the window, landing directly on top of a Purple dragon.

The other Purple dragon screamed in shock then raised his baseball bat, screaming obscenities. He swung his baseball bat as Karai twirled the sword through her fingers and veered it through the wood of the bat, slicing it in two. The Purple dragon stumbled back in shock, looking at the neatly sliced baseball bat.

Karai noticed the Purple dragon below her begin to stir. She quickly leaped off of him and drove the sharp end of the blade deep into his back, twisting it after entry, killing him instantly. The Purple dragon with the sliced baseball bat shouted, dug a pistol out of his pants and pointed the barrel between her eyes.

He pulled the trigger and everything moved in slow motion. Karai saw the bullet moving toward her, she tightened her grip on her sword, swung it up and sliced the bullet in two, causing them to stray off of its original course to her head. The two sides of the bullet impacted the wall behind her as she kicked herself off and ran at the Purple dragon.

He fired two more shots and Karai dodged them with grace. Just before he could fire a third time, Karai flung herself into a backflip, lifting her foot up and kicking the gun into the air. Karai landed on her feet, flicked her sword at the Purple dragon and sliced his neck, causing a major cascade of blood. As the Purple dragon lifted his hand to his wound, she held her hand up and let the pistol fall into her palm. Just as the pain began to grow in the Purple dragon's eyes, Karai raised the gun, aimed at his head, and then pulled the trigger, ending his newly caused suffering.

Everything seemed to have stopped. Karai froze, catching her breath. She let the gun fall between her fingers. Then remembered why she did this in the first place.

She turned toward Leo and saw him hunched over, eyes filled with shock and pain. Karai quickly raced to his side and began messing with the chain. "Don't worry Leonardo, I will get us out of here." She said hurriedly.

Then Leo mumbled something that was too soft to hear. "What was that?" Karai asked.

Leo took a deep breath, "Thank you."

She stopped for a second, unable to believe what she did. Saki has wanted nothing but to see the turtles suffer, and Karai had a chance to give him just that. But she saved him, and she felt good about it. So smiled, "I mean, what else are partners for?" She said, half expecting him to give her that famous scowl that he does, ending off with 'We're not partners.' But instead, he shot her a warm smile.

But the happy moment soon ended when the door behind Karai was kicked open. Five Purple dragons stormed in with heavy machine guns, all pointed at Karai and Leo.

They both froze, eyes wide as they stared at the line of Purple dragons. Then Karai saw it. The three cans of gasoline in the other room, then she glanced down at the gun. And the idea came to her. Instinct kicked in, as she swung her sword at Leo, barely missing his hand and slicing gracefully through the chains of his handcuffs. Just then, a Purple dragon shouted, "Kill 'em!"

Just before they pulled their triggers, Karai quickly picked up the gun, aimed, and fired at the gasoline cans. In a matter of seconds, the entire warehouse combusted in a furious fire.

…

The sudden smell of smoke infiltrated Raph's nostrils. He scanned the New York rooftops and spotted a forming cloud of dark smoke off in the distance. "What the?" He growled under his breath. Then he noticed the abandoned hotel near it, the familiarity stuck out to Raph. He examined the building from top to bottom, trying to figure out why it looked so familiar.

Then he remembered.

It was the same building where he and his brothers fought the Hun once. They were scoping out a warehouse near it, hearing that it was a supposed Purple Dragon hideout. And in fact it was, and Hun showed up.

Then he realized where the smoke was coming from. A purple dragons hideout.

Then the thought stuck out to him, "Leo." He said softly.

He pushed himself up and jumped from rooftop to rooftop, desperate to see if Leo was a part of this fire.

…..

Don and Leatherhead watched in fear as the new station blasted the breaking news, _"-knows how the fire started. But it is confirmed that the building was used for a secret purple dragon activity under the command of recently deceased Hunter Mason._"

"What!?" Don shouted, turning and glaring at Leatherhead, "Hun's dead?!" "I guess so." Leatherhead softly sighed, knowing Leo was behind all this.

"_Police believe that this fire is connected to Hunter Mason's death."_

Mikey walked out of the kitchen, phone in hand, looking scared, "Dude, Leo isn't picking up his phone!" He cried.

"Dammit," Don cursed, rubbing his chin, "What about Raph?"

Mikey shrugged.

"Try him."

Mikey hesitated, then groaned and typed in Raph's number. In seconds, Raph picked up.

"Yeah?!" He said, sounding out of breath.

"Raph! Where are you? Where's Leo?" Mikey asked quickly.

"Hell if I know." He breathed out hard.

"Did you hear about the fire at the purple dragons hideout."

"Yeah, I'm heading over there now to see if Leo's there or not." Raph said quickly.

Mikey suddenly felt fear for some reason. Yes, he was still upset at Raph for agreeing to take Leo's role in the family, but they were still brothers. "Ok…Just…" He sighed, "Be careful dude."

Raph didn't say anything, then puffed, "Don't worry, I will. I'm almost there, I'll call you if I have Leo."

"Okay."

Mikey hung up the phone and turned his gaze to the TV, seeing an aerial view of the burning building.

…..

The sudden fire took the purple dragons by surprise, giving Karai the advantage. She sprung in front of one of them and shoved the butt end of the sword into the side of his head, knocking him out instantly. The other purple dragons caught on and began to open fire. Leo jumped up, wrapped his hand around the chair and smashed it against the purple dragon.

"Lets go!" Leo shouted, grabbing Karai's arm and tugging her toward the door. The heat built up as they stumbled out of the door. Leo glanced up and saw the purple dragons turn their guns toward them. He quickly rammed his foot against the door and slammed it shut. "GO!" Leo shouted, pushing Karai up to her feet and guiding her to the door.

She helped Leo up and they both ran into a room where there was no fire and closed the door. "Leonardo, what are we going to do?" Karai asked, coughing majorly. She noticed his lack of an answer. Worried, she glanced over at him.

Leo leaned forward, coughing violently, he felt as though his heart was going to burst out of his stomach. He couldn't breath, he tried his hardest to stop, but it came out so vigorously that it hurt even more to try and stop. It felt as though his insides were working twice as fast, building up more and more pain.

Karai grabbed his shoulder, "Leonardo? Are you alright?"

With the pain of his illness and the smoke engulfing his lungs, he felt his vision fade as his legs grew numb. Then in seconds, Leo hit the floor, Karai shouted as she tried to catch him, but he slipped through her arms and smacked against the ground.

Karai panicked as she knelt down by Leo's side and shook him, "Leonardo? Leonardo! Wake up!"

After a minute, she realized her efforts were fruitless and needed another plan. She glanced up at the window, then back down at Leo.

….

Raph jumped on top of another building and skidded to a stop. He looked over the edge and saw the burning warehouse, still burning with hate. He knelt down and watched the flame, wondering how he could determine if Leo was inside.

Then, just as he watched, the burning building caved in and collapsed. He froze, heart stopping, jaw dropping. "LEO!" He called out, hoping that he would be all right. But all he could think about was the worst.

Suddenly, his shell cell vibrated. He quickly took it out and answered it. "Hello?" He said hurriedly.

"Raph! We saw what happened to the building, did you find Leo?" Don asked.

Raph didn't respond, he just glared down at the now burning pile of metal and debris. "No…no I didn't find him."

There was no response on the other end. Just as Raph thought he was going to break down, his shell cell vibrated again. He pulled it away from his ear and looked down at it. It was a message.

_I'm fine. Don't worry about me._

_ Leo_


	8. Chapter 8

_**New Chapter! WOO! And i also bring good news, well good for me. I recently just got a job! WOO! I now work at a movie theater. And i will assure you, i will keep updating like theirs no tomorrow. I don't start for a few weeks. But its close enough to the end of school for it to not be stressful. **_

_**Ok enough about me. **_

_**Now go read. **_

_**Enjoy!**_

_**Your pal, Jet!**_

* * *

Chapter 8

Karai untied her bandana and set it down on the sink, she looked up at herself in the mirror, seeing the ash, sweat, and blood smeared on her face. She shook her head, turned the water on and ran her hands underneath the warm flow. Splashing it on her face, rubbing the grim off her face.

The thought came to her in an instant. Her father, sacrificing Karai for his own personal greed.

She couldn't help it, she covered her face and burst into tears, feeling betrayed. She hunched over the sink and wailed in a miserable cry of sadness. She didn't understand why she suddenly felt the need to cry, usually she never showed her emotions like this. But in this situation, she had no choice.

She glanced up at herself against, disappointed at what she saw. The ash and blood still lingered lightly, but her red, swollen eyes made her feel vulnerable. She was supposed to be strong, she shouldn't let things like this get to her. She knew her Saki wanted the turtles to suffer, but she didn't realize how much he was willing to sacrifice to get it.

She heard a soft groan behind her, turned quickly and saw Leonardo on her bed, where she left him.

Her thoughts were now clouded with Leonardo. She felt nothing but respect for him, but knowing his stubbornness, he will still probably do what Saki says.

Karai couldn't stop him. But she had to warn him.

She turned the water off and grabbed a towel to wipe her face off. The rough fabric would hopefully get rid of the puffiness. She stepped out and glanced around her small two-bedroom apartment.

It felt odd to her, first of all she was almost never hear. Saki doesn't know about this place, so she felt safe, or at least she never needed to feel safe from him until now.

Does she feel safe around him? Maybe this was a one time thing. He saw his chance and took it without thinking. Maybe Karai is looking too far into this, but mistake or not. Those purple dragons were trying to hurt her, and Saki should have made it clear that it was the turtle they wanted, not Karai.

She glanced back at Leo.

It also felt odd to have him in her apartment. Usually she was always alone whenever she was here, now there's a large turtle lying on her bed.

What would happen when he wakes up? Would he freak out and wonder why Karai basically kidnapped him? Technically she helped him, she couldn't leave him there, she couldn't have brought him back to his brothers. This was the only thing she could have done. He will just have to understand that.

She noticed the ash on his face and walked into the kitchen, wet a rag and took a seat on the edge of her bed, softly wiping the grim off his face.

She had always respected Leo to a minimum, but she also always loved Saki unconditionally. And no matter how much he wanted to hurt anyone or cause damage, he was still her father, and she had always had to choose him over the turtles.

She didn't want to hurt the turtles, but if they tried to hurt Saki, she had to step in.

But right now, she can't help but feel like that was a mistake.

Leo groaned again. Karai jumped and looked down at him. He was still out like a light, but hopefully the groaning means he's going to wake up soon. Was that supposed to be a hopefully? She still wasn't sure what to do when he does wake up.

His brothers are probably worried sick about him, if they found him with Karai, she couldn't imagine what they would think.

She just hoped it never would come to that.

As she wiped his face clean of the ash and blood, she couldn't help but notice Leo's pale features. He was in bad shape, its sick to think that Saki was making him do this while like this. It looked like he could barely hold himself up.

Suddenly, she came up with the idea. She could go to Saki, explain to him that Leo did in fact perish in the fire. But first, go to his brothers and tell them to evacuate their hideout and go someplace safe. So when Saki goes to attack, there will be no one there.

But she quickly disregarded it, realizing that they would be spending the rest of their lives in hiding, and it would cause question as to why Leo was here in the first place.

She slouched over and rested her head in her hands, wondering. What's going to happen now, Karai knows that Saki is willing to sacrifice her for the Leo, so how will she ever face him. She would just have to be careful, always be alert and one step ahead of him. But that will be tough without looking suspicious.

Leo twitched slightly, Karai looked down at his face just in time to see his eyes slowly open. Karai froze, not knowing what to do. His eyes moved and locked onto hers. "Karai?" He said softly.

"Do not be alarmed." She said quickly.

Leo pushed himself up and looked around, rubbing the aching spot on his head, "Where am I?" He asked. Karai stood up and moved into her kitchen, "This is my place, I brought you here because I didn't know what else to do."

Leo looked around her apartment, feeling an awkward tension. "What happened?" He asked.

Karai tossed the wet rag into the sink and began washing her hands, "You passed out."

"Passed out?"  
"Yes, we went into a room away from the purple dragons and you started coughing really badly. Then you passed out and I took you here so you could recuperate."

Leo nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. He placed his hand on his belt, feeling for his phone, "How long have I been out?"

She shrugged, "Two…maybe three hours."

"Crap." He said, looking around for his phone.

"Don't worry," She said, turning and tossing the phone at him, "I messaged your brothers, telling them you are alright."

Leo caught the phone and looked, stunned at Karai. He was speechless, she hauled him all the way over here just to keep him safe. Looking at her know, Leo can't see her as an enemy anymore.

Leo nodded, "Thank you." He said softly, then walked over to the dresser and picked up his katanas. "I need to get back to the lair before they get to unsettled."

Karai smiled, nodding slightly, "I understand."

He tightened his holsters around his chest and went to the window, opening up to the dark, gloomy sky. He turned and faced Karai again, "Uhh," He mumbled, "I guess I'll see you around." Karai lowered her head, "Until next time."

Leo smiled, feeling uneasy happiness linger in him as he climbed through the window and disappeared into the night.

Karai leaned back into the sink, slightly hating herself for not telling Leo about Saki. He has a right to know. She sighed, leaving the kitchen and entering her bedroom, hoping that Leo will not be harmed before she has a chance to tell him.

…...

Exhaustion hit dramatically, forcing Leo to stop every once in a while to catch his breath, or just to get over the dizziness. It felt odd to him that his shell cell wasn't ringing every second, but when he checked it, he found it was dead. "Figures." He grumbled, then pressed on through the rooftops. The more he went on, the more he found himself stopping.

This disease is getting hard to handle, and he wasn't prepared to just stop doing anything and become bed ridden until the day this disease wins. But what was he going to do? Maybe Don and Leatherhead can muster something up to get rid of the symptoms. He could only hope.

His breath ran short, he stopped and leaned up against a door leaning down into the building. As he caught his breath, the sudden jolt of hope surged through him as he thought about Don and Leatherhead coming up with a cure. A miraculous cure, then Leo could live on with his brothers until the day fate takes him instead of his disease.

"Needed a water break?"

Leo jumped, jerking around and seeing a figure standing in the dark. He stepped away and squinted to try and get a glimpse of who it could be. "Who's there?"

The figure didn't respond, but slowly stepped forward into the moonlight. Leo saw his sharp, intimidating face, black sunglasses and black coat.

"Bishop!" Leo snapped, unsheathing his swords.

"Hello Leonardo." He slyly smiled.

"What are you doing here?"

He cupped his hands behind him and began to walk toward Leo. "Your friend told me about your…condition." He remarked with a smug smile. Leo's heart began to hammer, "Leatherhead?"

"Yes, I guess you mean something to him, considering he would actually call me for help." Bishop said.

Leo lowered his katana's, "Why are you here? What do you want?"

"It's not what I want…it's what you want." He emphasized the 'you', "And I have what you want. But you are half right…there is something I do want."

"And if I get you what you want then you will give me what I want?" Leo said, having heard this many times before.

"Exactly."

Leo holstered his swords, "And what exactly is it you have that I want?"

Bishop smiled, "A second chance."

…..

Leo pulled the lever down and the doors to the lair opened. He expected the same treatment as he got last time, Raph standing there and screaming at him. But instead, silence.

Curious, he crept in, knowing it was almost midnight.

He instantly saw Mikey on the couch, snoozing softly. Leatherhead was in Don's lab, but no sign of Don. The sound of the shower running quickly disregarded that slight fear.

Leo frowned, then peered into the kitchen. Raph was sitting at the table, drinking coffee and reading something. Leo smiled and walked into the kitchen, "Since when do you drink coffee?" Leo asked light heartedly.

"When I started sitting up at night waiting for my big brother to get home." Raph said, setting whatever he was reading down. Leo smiled, "Sorry." He said.

"I'll forgive you when you tell me where you were."

Leo bit his lip, never actually able to think of an excuse for his absence. "Well, like Leatherhead told Splinter. I needed some time alone to get my head together. And I'm guessing you heard about the fire?"

"Yeah," Raph said, "I was outside too, I thought you were part of it."

Leo fake chuckled, "No, I saw it too and went to investigate."

Raph's face changed strangely, "Well then how were you so late?"

"When I was at the warehouse, a group of foot ninja's saw me. So I'm guessing they were behind it. Anyway, they saw me and I hid at April's till I felt it was safe to come home." Leo lied, which he hated, but it became like a habit and he has no trouble thinking of a lie on the spot.

"You could have called or something." Raph said.

Leo took his shell cell out of his belt and tossed it to him, "Went dead. Typed the message as fast as I could with what battery I had."

Raph looked at the shell cell and then at Leo. He placed the cell on the table and wrapped his arms around Leo. Surprised, Leo didn't do anything for a second. "I was worried about you." Raph said softly.

Leo couldn't help but smile, returning the embrace, "You don't have to worry, I'm fine." Leo lied.

They let go of each other and Leo nodded, "I have to speak with Leatherhead for a second." He said, then went to leave.

"Did you kill Hun?"

He froze, shock freezing every limb. Petrified, he looked at the ground. The guilt and misery he felt about it suddenly washed over him. Hun was one of their archenemies, but still, you never get use to killing someone. That and he was leaving. He resigned and Saki made Leo kill him.

Without knowing, Raph was standing directly behind him, hand on Leo's shoulder. Leo's eyes burned as he turned his head and looked at Raph. Raph's face fell instantly, "No." He said softly.

The lying game started playing in his head once again, "I had to." Leo said softly. Raph's eyes suddenly became watery, "He was threatening to hurt you guys. He said he…He said…" Leo stuttered. Raph noticed his difficulty speaking and shushed him quickly, wrapping his arms around him.

"I had to." Leo said softly.

Raph didn't know what to say, he kept quiet as Leo sobbed softly in his shoulder.

But did Leo really have to? He could have said no, could have chose not to do it and go home. But then that would give Saki the freedom to attack whenever he damn well felt like it. So in reality, it was Hun or his brothers.

At least, that's what he thinks. Just to make himself feel like it was the right choice.

….

Leo woke to the sound of the TV, advertising some machine where you put something in it and it comes out as juice. He tiredly opened his eyes and quickly realized he was not in his room, but on the couch, sitting upright. His head was leaned up on the couch, staring up at the wall, he didn't need to move his neck to know that it would be a pain to move.

He didn't recall what happened last night, all he remembered was coming home, basically breaking down in front of Raph, and then the both of them sitting in the main room with a sleeping Mikey, watching TV. If he remembered correctly, they were watching some kind of movie before he dozed off.

He couldn't help but think about Raph and how he reacted the way he did. Leo knew killing Hun was a shock to everyone, mainly because the four of them together could never do it. Raph told him that everyone else already knew. And surprisingly Mikey was the one who figured it out. Leo didn't even want to know how Splinter took it.

He didn't understand why he felt so guilty about killing someone who has tried to kill them for the longest of time. But he did.

Leo needed a distraction and moved his neck, feeling it's stiffness shoot short, sharp bursts of pain through his body. Then he let his head bobble forward, groaning softly.

He noticed Mikey was still on the couch, deep asleep. It was rather dark in the lair, Leo moved his eyes and looked at the clock above the TV. It was almost five thirty in the morning. He groaned and continued to move his neck until its stiffness faded. Then he focused on the TV, ironically it was the news story about the Hun, as if he were some kind of fallen hero.

Leo groaned in disgust and switched the TV off, getting up off the couch. He would go upstairs to go back to sleep, but with the pain lingering in his neck, he found it hard to call himself tired anymore.

Then he heard something in the kitchen, looked and found Leatherhead getting himself some water. Leo frowned, rubbing his aching eyes as he shuffled toward the kitchen, not fully awake.

"Isn't it a bit late for a midnight snack?" Leo asked, taking a seat at the dinner table and resting his head in his hands. Leatherhead looked back and jumped a bit, "Oh, Leonardo...I didn't expect you to be up this early."

Leo rubbed the back of his neck and groaned softly "Neither did I."

"Everything alright?" Leatherhead asked, taking a seat across from Leo.

Leo dropped his arms and looked at Leatherhead, "I ran into Bishop last night."

Leatherhead's face fell suddenly, glancing down at his water nervously. "What did he say?" He asked.

Leo stood up and went to the fridge, taking out a bottle of water, "Said if he's going to help us, I need to do something for him."

"And?"

Leo sighed, chugging his water, "Don't know, wouldn't tell me." He said, screwing the cap back on, "I have to go meet him at his laboratory today, says he wants to show me something before he tells me."

Leatherhead sighed, rubbing his fingers along his water bottle.

Leo shook his head and went to walk out of the kitchen, "Leonardo." Leatherhead called quickly. Leo stopped, playing with his water bottle. "I hope you know I did it because I had no choice. If anyone can help, it would be him."

Leo didn't say anything, just nodded and walked upstairs.

He wasn't upset at the fact that Leatherhead told Bishop, he was upset that now he's working for two of his enemies. For all he knew, Bishop could have a long list of things he needs to help, and Leo still has Saki to worry about.

He felt at a crossroads, the road to the left leads to Saki, which leads to closure that his brothers will have immunity from Saki. The road to the right leads to Bishop, which leads to the cure for this disease. And the road ahead leads to his family, which leads to happiness.

….

Mikey shifted, feeling suddenly uncomfortable. He stretched and checked the clock, but before he could focus on what time it was, he heard voices in the kitchen.

"Everything alright?" It was undoubtedly Leatherheads voice.

Then silence, Mikey pushed himself up and peeked over the couch, seeing Leo sitting down and Leatherhead just taking a seat in front of him. He dropped down quickly and listened, "I ran into Bishop last night."

Mikey suddenly felt a jolt of fear in his heart, "What did he say?" Leatherhead said, as though he expected it.

"Said if he's going to help us, I need to do something for him."

"And?"

Mikey heard Leo sigh, "Don't know, wouldn't say, I have to go meet him at his laboratory today, says he wants to show me something before he tells me."

Mikey frowned, suddenly feeling as though Leo and Leatherhead know something the rest don't.

"Leonardo… I hope you know I did it because I had no choice. If anyone can help, it would be him."

Mikey bit his lip, asking himself questions. _Did Leatherhead get Bishop to help his cancer? If so, then what does Leo have to do with it? Why couldn't he get all of us to help him? What's Leo's place in this?_


	9. Chapter 9

_**Sorry! I know this is late! Just started work and i've been busy. But this week is my last week and i graduate. This story isn't going anyway anytime soon. **_

_**For now! Enjoy!**_

* * *

Chapter 9

_The night went on like any other night. Pedestrians were tiredly making their way through the New York streets, looking forward to balling up in their bed and sleeping until their alarm clock wake them up to start the cycle over again. _

_ It was an ordinary night, until suddenly, a building that once stood tall, now erupted in a great flash due to an explosion on the inside. Unlucky people that stood to close lost their lives, while others stopped and gaped at the building. Shock, scared of what they had just seen. _

_ The explosion from the building caused pieces of rock to smash into other buildings, the fire spread to buildings neighboring, causing a mass amount of damage. _

_ Some people fled as fast as they could, others tried to help the injured, and others stayed and cried over the dead. Suddenly, the building in flames crumbled into tiny pieces and flooded the streets with ash. _

_ Those who stayed whether to help the injured or mourn the dead disappeared in the ash. Those who ran now ran for their lives to get away from the ash. Some didn't make it, but others either managed to get away or hide in buildings. _

_ When the streets fell silent, and the ash settled. No one knew what to think, they concluded it to be a terrorist attack. _

_ Little did they know, terrorism had nothing to do with it._

Leo wanted to turn off the water that was shooting at him, but he just couldn't move, he was so weak, exhausted. He should go back to sleep, but he couldn't, he didn't know why. He tried lying back down, but he just couldn't get comfortable.

He felt he was letting his disease take over, he's too weak to move, to exhausted to do anything. How is he going to keep working with Saki if he can't even move?

Why hasn't these symptoms gone away, will they be there until he finally bites the dust? Or will they go away after a while? He didn't know, but he should ask Leatherhead. So far all of their work has come to a dead end, Leo's holding on the thin strand of hope that Bishop can help him, possibly cure him.

What if Bishop did have a cure for cancer? Would he really be that greedy as to keep it from the public, but he would become instantly famous, a hero. But that's impossible, maybe one day the world can find a cure for cancer, but today, it's not going to happen, especially for a giant mutant turtle.

Leo couldn't stop thinking about Karai for some reason, the way she reacted to her father's betrayal threw him off majorly. He always thought she was a tough girl who didn't let anything get in her way, but in reality, she's just a human, with feelings as any human has, and being betrayed by a family members hurts, no matter who you are.

Then Leo realized…he was betraying his family. By keeping them from the truth, he was betraying them severely.

Leo groaned, not wanting to think about it anymore. He wasn't a fan of sitting down in the shower, but today, he could barely stand. He went to turn off the water, but instead his arm flopped down next to his leg, feeling heavier then a sack of bowling balls.

He frowned, then leaned his head back into the wall, breathing heavily. Then it hit him like a train, his breath went shallow, as he gasped for air, he suddenly felt as though had wrapped a rope around his neck, cutting off his circulation. He threw his hands up to his neck, but felt only skin.

His finger and toes went numb, even in the rush of the shower water he felt sweat pour down his face. His heart pounded painfully in his chest, making him feel like it is going to explode.

He quickly thought the worst.

"_Oh my god, I'm going to die._"

His hands trembled as he pulled back the shower curtain and dragged himself out of the tub, landing hard on the stone floor. As he gasped for air, feeling like his lungs are about to explode. He pulled himself to the door, feeling his head spin drastically, almost making him want to just close his eyes and pass out.

"_I'm going to die."_

_ "I'm going to die._"

That thought swirled in his head as he reached for the doorknob, wanting nothing but his brothers to help him.

He coughed, finally inhaling, fearful tears rolled down his face. With his fingers still tingling, he bashed his fist against the wood, hoping his brothers could help him.

In no time at all, the door opened. Leo tried to look up, but quickly felt the numbness pin him to the ground. He felt a hand on his arm, then heard a deep voice scream, "Mikey! Get Donatello!"

Raph grabbed Leo's shoulder and turned him up, Leo caught his breath as he stared at the ceiling. "Hey!" Raph said, snapping, "Come back to me bro? You alright? What happened?"

"I-I…" Leo stuttered, trembling and sobbing in fear, "I- I don't kn-know."

Don showed up in seconds and looked over his brother, "Raph, help me take him to the couch."

Don and Raph both hauled Leo up off the ground and placed him on the couch, not caring that he was still soaking wet.

Don got down on one knee and looked at Leo, "Leo, talk to me. What's the matter?"

Leo inhaled sharply, covering his face, "I-I don't..." He sobbed, "I don't know."

Don glanced at Raph, "What happened?"

Raph shrugged, "He was banging on the bathroom door and I found him on the floor."

Don looked back at Leo, "Bro, talk to me, what happened?"

Leo took a deep breath, finally calming down.

….

Don concluded the episode to be a panic attack. Leo didn't know how to take it, but when Don explained how it was nothing really bad, only a slight annoyance. Leo didn't care, he was upset at himself, mainly because of what he has become.

Before all of this, he was a noble, strong leader. But now, he's cancer ridden, having trouble moving, and now having panic attacks.

Leo hated what he has become, he felt weak.

As Don was explaining more in depth, Leo noticed Raph eyeing him from the kitchen. Mikey was upstairs, looking over at everyone. Leo couldn't help but feel like his brothers and father were disappointed in him. Leo was suppose to be the strong one, and now that his brothers saw him having a panic attack, he felt like they think less of him.

"I recommend you just lay down and get some rest." Don said, glancing back at Leatherhead. Leatherhead nodded, "I agree."

Leo lowered his head, getting off the couch and heading to the stairs. He felt every eye on him, a feeling he hated. "You need anything?" Mikey asked as he passed.

Leo didn't respond, but wrapped is arms around him and embraced his tightly. He didn't know why, he just needed a hug, and Mikey was the only one near.

Don watched as Leo and Mikey hugged. He knew something was wrong with Leo. It wasn't like him to just have a random panic attack, no matter what was going on. Sure Leo isn't perfect, but he knows how to handle himself.

Leo patted Mikey's shell, then walked into his room. Mikey stood there, kind of shocked at the sudden embrace. It felt good, but it was unexpected.

Don sighed, "Guys, something's wrong with Leo."

"You're telling me." Mikey added, coming down the stairs.

"He might just have the flu." Raph suggested.

Don shook his head, "It could be…I don't know. I wish he would talk to us… I feel like I haven't talked to him in ages."

Raph frowned, rubbing the back of his head, "I know the feeling."

"Do not worry my friends," Leatherhead joined, "Leonardo is alright, he just needs rest. If he still does not look good when he is fully rested, then we will examine him."

Mikey squinted at Leatherhead, still remembering his little conversation he had with Leo that morning. And it seemed like Leatherhead just tried to stop this conversation.

"Leatherhead," Mikey said, feeling mischievous, "How do you explain this random panic attack?" He asked, trying not to sound suspicious.

Leatherhead's eye twitched, "Isn't it obvious…I mean, there is a lot of change in his life."

Mikey smirked, "Like what?"

Leatherhead felt on the stop, he coughed nervously and looked around, "I mean, Raphael is the new leader."

"So it's my fault?" Raph suddenly growled.

"Yeah, and if Leo isn't leader anymore, wouldn't that get rid of stress instead of adding it?" Mikey contradicted.

Leatherhead felt a lump form in his throat, he coughed again and sighed. "Guys, leave him alone." Don said softly.

"But Leatherhead knows what he's talking about, I want to hear more?" Mikey said.

"I want to know why he thinks it's my fault." Raph said.

All of a sudden, Leatherhead felt it. "_I DON'T KNOW!"_ He screamed, anger pulsing in his chest. Don quickly stepped in front of him, "Whoa whoa calm down big guy."

Leatherhead's breath got heavier and heavier, the sudden fear of losing control flooded within him. He rushed past down and out of the lair without a word. Don glared back at Mikey and Raph, "What was that all about?" Don snapped.

Mikey shrugged, "I thought Leatherhead knew what was happening to Leo."

Raph groaned, "I just wanted to know how it was my fault."

"It's not!" Don shouted, "But that doesn't mean you have to badger him, he's trying to help, you guys aren't helping."

Raph frowned and watched Don storm out of the lair to help calm Leatherhead down. Mikey chuckled softly, disappearing into his own room. Raph sighed, "What happened to us?" Raph asked softly.

He walked into the kitchen and poured himself some water, pondering his thought. It was starting to become more and more obvious that this family is tearing itself apart. And Splinter locks himself in his room and doesn't help anyone.

If he were out more, things would be calmer. But tensions getting higher and everyone's on edge.

Suddenly, the lair door opened, then closed.

Raph expected it to be Don or Leatherhead, he should apologize, but he didn't badger him as bad as Mikey.

Then Raph noticed the lack of sound. He looked out into the main room, seeing no one. He stood up and walked out of the kitchen, the lair door was closed, but the lair was empty. Then who walked into the lair? Or left?

…

Leo ran as fast as he could toward the building Bishop had told him to meet him. He didn't know what to expect, Bishop could betray him right there and kill him or something. But Leo had to take the chance.

He felt around in his belt, realizing he forgot his shell cell. "Crap," He cursed softly. Raph was going to kill him if there was an emergency. But Leo shouldn't be long. He hoped.

The constant fear of having another panic attack lingered in Leo's chest, making him more alert then usual. He skidded to a stop, suddenly feeling an odd ache in his stomach. He bent over, put his hand on the edge of the building and vomited.

He coughed and sputtered until he was certain that he got all of it out, stood straight up, wiped the residue off his lip and continued through the rooftops. He needed help fast, he couldn't keep going like this for much longer, he would surely either die from fever, the stress, or the damage he's putting himself through. But he couldn't stop, he made the choice to put himself in danger like this, so he had to deal with it. Hopefully Bishop has something that can help Leo.

Leo stopped when he saw the building, he spotted two figures on the roof, one was unmistakably Bishop, the other is most likely a guard.

He took a deep breath, then pushed on to the building.

Strangely, the thought of Raph ran through his head. He was clearly having a hard time being the leader. Leo thought about talking to Splinter, or even Raph himself, but Splinter just locks himself in his room without leaving. And he felt that conversation would be awkward with Raph. So he let it slide.

He jumped from the rooftop and landed as gracefully as he could on Bishop's building. His foot almost buckled, but he managed to catch himself. The thump that Leo made upon landing made Bishop turn. A smile stretched across his face.

"Well look who decided to show up." Bishop sneered.

Leo didn't respond, just casually walked toward Bishop and his guard. Bishop's face fell into a curious squint. "You don't look so good."

Leo puffed, "You don't even know half of it."

Bishop squinted, rubbing his chin, then turned and muttered something into the guards' ear. The guard nodded, then went inside the building. Leo watched him, "Where is he going?" He asked.

"He will join us in just a moment." Bishop said, turning and gazing out into the New York skyline.

"I do have a mission for you. But unlike Saki, I only need you once. Then you may have what you desire."

Leo nodded. "But first," Bishop said sternly, "You must know something." Leo's curiosity overshadowed his desire to kick him in the head and demand his mission. "I have stolen a great amount of technology from other worlds, and as you know." Bishop put his hands behind his back and faced Leo, "Their technology is greater then ours. Thus, helping me create this." He said, pulling a capped syringe out of his pocket.

Leo studied the odd purple substance inside the syringe, "And that is?"

Bishop smiled, "The thing that you humans have been searching for, the thing that humans have desired for ages. The cure." He said softly, "The cure to cancer."

Leo's heart fell into his stomach, he couldn't help but smile. There it was, the cure for all his problems. With that, his disease will be gone, he can reunite with his brothers, and their family can be one again.

He stepped forward, Bishop threw his hand up, "Hold on a second." He said, then moved his arm over the edge, holding the syringe. Leo froze, "Wait!" He said loudly. "Please!"

"You will get this, only when you get me what I want." Bishop said.

"And what do you want?" Leo almost shouted impatiently.

Bishop moved his arm away from the edge and began to pace. "A little while ago, mine and Stockman's partnership came to an abrupt end. And in his departure, he took with him a briefcase, and in the briefcase were notes, formulas, blue prints, and five hundred thousand dollars." He said, turning to Leo, "I need that back."

"You get me my suitcase, and this cure is all yours."

Leo kept his cool, nodding. Then watched the guard walked through the door and return to Bishops side. He was holding a small case. Bishop smiled, took the case and put the syringe back in his pocket. "And while I was gathering the things I needed to make the cure, I also conjured up this." He said, opening the case and pulling out a small syringe, filled with a gross orange color.

"What's that?" Leo asked.

Bishop looked at the guard and nodded. "With trusting you with this mission, there are some precautions I have to take. Because I really do need that suitcase." He said, stepping closer to Leo.

Leo stepped back cautiously. "What's in there?" He asked more sternly.

"Something to ease my mind." He said, slowly wrapping his arm around Leo's shoulder. Leo uneasily stood as Bishop turned him around to look out at the New York skyline.

"I need to know that you can fight, that you can handle yourself."

Leo frowned, "I can fight, and handle myself." He said.

Bishop chuckled darkly. "You can barely stand." He said, gripping the syringe. "So I must take precautions." He said, then plunged the syringe into Leo's neck, injecting him with the orange substance. In a fit of fear and panic, Leo quickly pushed bishop away and backed away. He grabbed the syringe and pulled it out of his neck, throwing it to the ground, "What did you just inject me with." He said quickly, feeling his heart race.

Suddenly, the dull ache in his head faded away. The lingering pain in his heart soothed. He felt the fever die down in minutes. The numbness he had felt in his arms went away with ease. He felt strong, powerful.

"What's happening to me?" Leo said coolly.

Bishop smiled, "Don't get too excited, you still have cancer." He said, "But your symptoms are gone, the substance neutralized what were causing the symptoms."

Bishop stepped toward Leo and brought his face close, "Get me my suitcase. And you'll have the rest."

…..

Raph knocked on Splinter door softly, quietly opening the door, "Master Splinter? Is there anything you need?" He asked.

There was nothing at first, then softly, "Can you please…send Leonardo in here."

Raph frowned, "Uhh…He's not here."

Splinter didn't respond at first, then Raph heard Splinter sigh, "Very well."

Raph frowned, clenching his fists as he closed the door. Angry that Splinter demands that we leave him be unless he asks for something. And angry with Leo for leaving once again. He's sick, why can't he understand that.

Then Raph's thought was cut short by a sudden, yet soft break of silence. It sounded something vibrating on wood. He turned his head and looked at the door it was coming from.

He opened it and quickly saw Leo's shell cell on the desk. He walked up to it and looked down at the cell, seeing the name of the person calling him flash on the screen.

_Karai_


	10. Chapter 10

_**Sorry guys! I know its been awhile. I've been really busy lately, but i'm now graduated out of high school and sitting in Florida with my dad. So expect more frequent updates. And as a gift to show how sorry i am for the delay, i have chapter 11 already finished, i might post it tomorrow some time.**_

_**So enough about that. **_

_**Enjoy! **_

* * *

Chapter 10

The knock from the other side of the door threw Karai out of her concentration, causing her to stop and catch her breath. The door opened and Saki stepped inside, "Karai, I would like you to know that for the turtles next assignment, your services will not be needed."

He said nothing more, then closed the door as he walked out. Karai didn't know what to think of the sudden interruption for such an abrupt statement. Demand was more like it.

She knew that he had another plan to attack Leonardo. And he knew that if Karai was there, she could stop it from happening. No procrastinating anymore. Leo had to know what Saki was doing.

She walked over to the window, picked up her phone from the ledge and typed in Leo's number. A number he gave her in case of emergencies. She held the phone up to her ear and listened to the rings.

As the rings continued, Karai sighed softly, "Come on Leo."

After the rings stopped, Karai cursed softly to herself and hung up her phone. She didn't know what Saki was going to give him the assignment, but he could give it to him at any moment.

Karai sighed and walked out of the training room. She kept a firm grip on her phone as she walked through the corridor, suddenly, her phone vibrated. She jumped a bit and looked down, seeing a number that she did not recognize.

She looked around to see if anyone was around, then walked into the nearest room and locked herself inside.

"Hello?" She said after answering the phone.

"Karai! It's me!" Leo's voice shouted through the phone.

"Leonardo! I just tried to call you." She said.

"I left my phone at the lair, listen, I need you to do me a favor."

"How are you calling me?" Karai asked.

Leo sighed, "I'm using a pay phone!" He grunted impatiently.

Karai felt as if a rock had traveled down her throat, she covered her lips, "Won't people see you?"

"No! I'm wearing a coat and hat! Now focus! I need you to do me a favor!"

Karai felt an odd, slightly fearful emotion run through her. "What is it?" She asked. Leo's breath could be heard over the phone, he sounded hurried. "I need you too meet me on top of the office on Harper Street!" He said.

Leo gripped the phone tighter then ever, desperate to find Stockman and get the cure.

"Of course, but why-"

Karai continued talking as Leo felt a vibration in his belt. He froze, eyes widening. "No…" He said softly.

Karai froze, "What!?" She exclaimed.

He reached down and grabbed the vibrating pager out of his belt, "No…no no no!" He said looking down at the pager. He grunted and slammed the phone against the pay phone, causing people to glance over their shoulder and watch him.

"Crap," He said softly, "Ok change of plans! Stay there, Saki has an assignment for me. I'll be there in a few minutes and we'll talk then!" He rushed.

"Wait, Leonardo. I must tell you something!" Karai quickly insisted.

"No time! I'll be there in a minute!" He said, then hung up the phone.

…..

Karai waited in the training room, leaning up against the wall, staring out the slightly opened door, waiting for Leo. She had to tell Leo that Saki still had plans on betraying him. Karai didn't know what the next assignment was, but since Saki didn't want her to go, she felt like he was going all out with this assignment.

Doing whatever he can to try and kill Leo.

She jerked up when she heard the sound of footsteps down the corridor. She crept up to the door and peeked out, just in time to see Leonardo walk by accompanied by a foot ninja.

He seemed bothered, not by the foot ninja, just by something in his mind.

They disappeared when they turned down the corridor, she closed the door and leaned up against the wood, taking a deep breath.

She didn't know what the assignment was, nor did she really want to know. But one thing she did know, Leo was walking into another death trap. And he's too stubborn to stop and think about everything.

Before she could finish the thought, she heard a door opened and close. She pinned herself against the door and peeked outside to find Leo walking alone down the corridor.

On instinct, she reached out, grabbed him as he passed and pulled him inside. He lost his footing and tumbled to the floor. His instinct took over as he swung his fist and clobbered Karai in the jaw. Karai staggered into the wall and held her jaw as Leo hit the ground, quickly turning to see who attacked him.

"Karai!" He shouted, "What's your problem!"

"Leonardo! I need to talk to you!"

"You couldn't have just called me over?"

"They would have heard me."

Leo caught his breath, pushing himself up to his feet. "Alright, what is it?"

Karai took a deep breath, "It's Saki…he's been putting you on these missions and rigging them to have you be attacked and killed."

"Yeah, I know." Leo said.

Karai stopped, frozen, "What?"

"You don't think that I didn't know that the address Saki gave me was leading me to an ambush? And that Saki told the purple dragons to expect me."

Karai stood, stunned, "But…how did you figure out."

"I didn't expect Saki to just stop being a bad guy and not try to kill me."

Leo took a deep breath, "Look Karai, I may be stubborn…but I'm not stupid." He said with a smile. Karai smiled softly, "So…you really did kill Hun by yourself."

Leo tensed a bit, then nodded, "And you felt no remorse?"

"Of course I did. I felt like crap after wards. I mean Hun didn't know I was coming but I had to do it to prove that I am useful."

Karai didn't know what to think, she spent all this time worrying when he knew all along.

"Now come on, I need your help with this assignment." Leo said.

Karai quickly shuddered, "But Saki said I was not to come with you."

"What he doesn't know, won't hurt him." Leo smiled.

Karai smiled, then followed Leo out of the training room.

…..

"_What he doesn't know, won't hurt him." _

Saki smiled softly, watching the monitor as Leo and Karai walked out of the room.

"It seems…we have a lamb astray." He said in a growl.

A foot ninja walked up to Saki, "Shall I take care of it?"

Saki quickly held up a hand, "No..." He said, "I'll take care of it upon her return."

…

"In his words," Leo stared, "There has been purple dragon activity in this fancy hotel near Time Square."

"How did the purple dragons manage to slip in without arousing suspicions?"

"That's exactly what we're going to find out." Leo said.

Karai put the car in third gear and accelerated, she wondered what other plans Saki had for Leo when he got to the hotel. But she knew that if she was with him, she couldn't be seen, or someone would inform Saki that she was there and it would be over for her.

"Any idea of what Saki has planned to really happen?" She asked.

"Isn't it obvious." He said, taking a piece of paper out of his belt and examining it, "Room 302. That's where he wants me to go. So he put as many purple dragons in that room as he possibly could and told them to wait for me. That or he put explosives in the room. Either way. I don't know what to do."

"We'll manage. Now here's a better questions. How are we going to get into the hotel without being seen? Because knowing Saki, he has hacked the camera's and will be watching."

Leo thought for a moment, "Alright, you're going to sneak into the hotel from the roof. Then once you enter, you're going to have to avoid all cameras until you get to the hotel service closet. Then you're going to disguise yourself as cleaning lady and meet me at the closet door."

"While you go in as a turtle on Halloween?" Karai asked.

"I got my trench coat and hat in the trunk."

"And how exactly did you get your stuff in my trunk?

Leo smiled, "I have my ways."

Karai shook her head and turned into the packed streets of Time Square. She spotted the hotel looming into the distance, slight fear lingered in Karai's heart. She thought about all of the things that could go wrong, but Leo's plan seemed fool proof. So she tried not to worry.

…

Once they made it to the hotel, Leo climbed in the back and put his coat and hat on. Hopefully it was enough.

"You good?" Karai asked from the front.

"Yeah," Leo stuck his head into the front, "Ok, I'm going to go in through the front, once I'm in, you drive around back and get up to the roof. You know what to do after that."

Karai nodded, "Good luck Leonardo."

Leo smiled, then crawled out of the car. He took one more look at Karai, then nodded his head. She took a deep breath and drove out of sight. Leo inhaled nervously, then walked to the hotel. There was a man outside, greeting people as they entered.

Leo didn't know how to get past him, he would surly suspect something. He glanced around nervously as a group of about eight people laughed and talked their way toward the hotel. Leo stood back, then as they passed, shadowed them as they entered the hotel.

The man smiled at them and said welcome once, greeting them all with one welcome. Leo looked the other way as he passed, the man didn't even give him a second look. He took a breath of relief and headed for the counter.

Saki said that a foot had come earlier and signed him into a room. Don't know what room he was put in, but it was unlikely he would even need it. He just needed a card to tell the staff that he belonged in the hotel.

He felt his swords shift uneasily behind his coat, making his blood pressure rise, hoping no one saw.

He hurriedly went to the counter.

"Hello, how can I help you today!"

Leo coughed, "Uhh, yeah, I signed in this morning, just want to get my key."

"Ok your name please?" She asked.

"Leonardo." He said nervously, wondering if Saki used a different name. But the lady smiled and handed him a small envelope that carried his card. "You're room number is one-eighty two. Have a good night Mr. Hamato."

There was a slight pinch of awkwardness when the lady referred to him as 'Mr. Hamato', he wasn't use to it, actually he was sure that it was the first time ever being called that.

Leo took the card and said thanks to the lady, but then stopped upon hearing another voice at the counter next to him.

"Hello, I'm looking to get a room for the night."

The familiarity of his voice made him cringe, he turned his head and gaped at the man. Leo's jaw dropped.

"Ok, and what is you're name?" The lady asked the man.

"Dr. Baxter Stockman."

Leo looked down at the thing he had set down to sign something. He had a whole set of luggage, and among them was a black suitcase.

….

Karai pulled herself off the ladder and onto the rooftop. She wiped the dirt and grime off of her hands and scanned the rooftops, looking for any trespassers, other then her.

She spotted the door leading inside the hotel and crept toward it. The sounds of the busy Time Square area blasted in the air, making it easier to sneak around. Karai wondered if there were any cameras on the roof, or if Saki is even watching them. There's a safe bet, but she didn't want to take the risk of being seen by any. Because even if Saki isn't watching, someone is, and she's trespassing.

She stopped by the door and jiggled the doorknob. Locked.

"Dammit." Karai cursed softly.

She should have known that most hotels lock their rooftop access doors from the outside. But Karai didn't think too much of it. She slid her sword out of its holster and plunged it deep into the doorknob, breaking the lock and demolishing the knob itself.

She pulled the sword out and the door swung freely. She walked inside and slowly tip toed down the stairs. The sound of a door being opened froze Karai in place. She plastered herself against the wall and tried to calm her breath. She peeked around the corner and saw a bellhop opening the door that lead to the employee area.

On instinct, she slid off her shoe and waited while the bellhop fixed something on his suit. Then he pushed the door open all the way and made his way downstairs. Karai quickly kicked her shoe just as the door began to close. The door caught the shoe and stopped the door from closing.

She stopped for a second, making sure no one noticed. She took a deep breath and pressed on, sliding her shoe back on and entering the employee area. She quickly did a scan through of any cameras and saw two at the end of the hallway and one just above her head. She cursed softly, checking her belt to see if there's anything she could use.

She noticed some trash on the ground with flies buzzing around it. Then the idea hit her. She grabbed a straw she saw and wiped it down, then focused on one fly, then swiftly grabbed without harming it.

She cringe slightly, then spit a glob of saliva onto the fly and shoved it into the straw. After wiping her hand, she quickly took aim and spat out. The fly zoomed through the air and splattered onto the lens. She smiled softly, then dropped the straw.

She cautiously walked the hallway and examined every door, then stopped when she saw the housekeeping closet. She opened the door and quickly went inside.

In the corner, she saw a large basket full of dirty clothes. She rummaged through it and managed to find a maid outfit. She groaned in disgust, then began to change.

…

The lady handed Stockman the card and Stockman picked up his bags and headed for the elevator. Leo watched him closely and followed, heart pounding. Stockman pressed the button for the elevator and waited as Leo stopped by a plant and watched, lowering his hat to cover his face.

The elevator dings and Stockman enters, Leo quickly reacts and heads for the elevator. Stockman pressed the button to close it and the doors begin to clothes, Leo quickens his pace and managed to slide through the doors as they close.

"Couldn't you have waited for another one?" He spat.

Leo fixed his coat and stared at the doors, heart racing. He pressed the button that leads to the top floor, Stockman pushed his hand away, "Excuse me, I'm in a hurry and need to get to my floor first." He said, pushing the fourth floor button.

Angered, Leo grabbed Stockman's hand, forced it up against the wall and pushed the emergency stop button. The elevator stopped and the lights dimmed.

"What in god's name!" Stockman shouted.

Leo grabbed his neck and forced him against the wall. Allowing his hat to tumble off of his head. "Turtle!" Stockman shouted.

"What are you doing here Stockman?" Leo growled.

Stockman coughed, "I highly doubt I need to tell you any of my business."

Leo gritted his teeth and dropped Stockman, then unsheathed his sword and held the tip at his neck. "I'll ask again."

Stockman glared up at Leo in hate, then pushed himself up. "If you must know, my time in New York is finished. I'm taking a flight to Florida tomorrow and plan on living the rest of my life in peace."

"So you're just leaving?" Leo asked, slightly shocked.

"Don't sound so surprised." Stockman retorted, pushing the tip of his sword away from his neck.

"I don't care what you do," Leo said, pushing the emergency stop button again. The elevator moved and Leo grabbed the suitcase, "But I'm taking this."

"You most certainly are not!" Stockman shouted, trying to grab the suitcase from Leo.

Leo pushed Stockman away and held the tip against his chest, "Stay back or I will do it." Leo threatened.

"You're threats mean nothing to me." Stockman growled.

Leo chuckled bitterly and with suitcase in hand, pushed the button to his floor again. After a few seconds, the elevator stopped and the doors opened. Leo went to walk out, but then suddenly felt a surge of electricity pump through his system, stunning him and forcing him to the ground.

Stockman chuckled softly as he put his stun gun back in his coat pocket, "So sorry to do that Leonardo, but I can't let you have this suitcase." He said, picking up the suitcase and leaving the rest of his luggage in the elevator.

….

Karai grabbed the cart of cleaning supplies and hid her weapons inside. Then pushed it out of the closet and headed down the hallway. She looked on the wall near the door and spotted a door number location page.

One hundred rooms on the first floor.

The next hundred on the next floor. And so on.

Room 302 should be on the third floor.

She pushed the cart through the door and went into the elevator, pressed the third floor button and waited. She didn't know what to expect in that room, but she knew it couldn't have been good.

She pulled her dress down and groaned, shifting the top uncomfortably.

The doors opened and Karai pushed the cart into the hall. She took a nervous breath and examined each door.

She expected Leo to be here already, he had the easy part.

"Hello!" She heard a female voice shout behind her.

She turned and saw another maid with a cart walk up to her. "Oh…hello!" Karai said, heart racing.

"This is my floor, do you need something?" She asked, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Oh…uhh, we got calls complaining about room 302. So I was sent to check it out." Karai said quickly.

The woman groaned, "Don't worry, I got it." She said, grabbing her card out of her pocket and walking toward the door. Karai watched nervously as the maid stopped at the door.

Suddenly, she was faced with a choice.

Either let the maid open the door and look inside, which would give Karai a chance to know what is inside without actually going inside, but the maid would most likely die.

Or tell the maid that something bad is in there, the maid will most likely call security and whatever's in that room would be taken care of. But they would most likely find Leo and take him in, and they would also take Karai in and question how she knew something was inside.

She didn't need much time, she staggered toward the wall and watched the maid open the door and walk inside.

There was nothing at first, which made Karai feel weird.

Then the room erupted in blistering gunfire. Karai quickly grabbed her sword from the cart and hid in the next corridor leading down to another hallway of doors. She stood against the wall and peeked around the corner. The gunfire was quick, but voices boomed through the hallways.

"Dammit, where is the hell is the turtle?"

"I don't know, but find him. Search this whole god damn building if you have to."

"But what about the other people?"

A purple dragon reloaded their gun, "I think it's time to put the purple dragons back on the map. Tell the world how what it means to be a purple dragon."

"You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Clear out the lobby, doesn't matter if they're innocent. We'll search the floors but tell them to clear out the lobby."

Karai couldn't move, she was in too much shock to even think, but one thing did pop in her head.

Where the hell is Leonardo?

One of the purple dragons turned on their radio, "Tex, this is Marcel, go to the lobby and go through with operation misfortune."

Before Karai even got a chance to react, gunfire, louder then Karai has ever heard emitted from the lobby. Karai put a hand over her mouth, trying to keep the fearful and shocked tears in her eyes. Then something appeared in the corner of her eye, she looked and saw a purple dragon staring at her.

"Karai?"

Karai's instinct took over as she swung up with her sword and sliced the purple dragon's stomach, killing him slowly.

The other purple dragons took notice.

"Is that Karai?"

"What is she doing here?"

"Doesn't matter! Kill her!"

The elevator beeped and Karai saw her chance, threw a smoke pellet and pushed herself off of the wall, sprinting as fast as she could toward the elevator. They opened fire into the smoke, but missed Karai as she zigzagged toward the elevator.

She leapt inside and fell to the floor, slamming her fist against the close door button repeatedly. The doors closed and Karai sat in the elevator, unable to believe the situation she and Leonardo were in.

She couldn't believe how ruthless Saki was being. He wasn't even trying to be sneaky anymore, he wanted to kill Leonardo, no matter what else happens.

First thing she needed to do was find Leonardo before the Purple Dragon's did. After that, get the hell out.


	11. Chapter 11

_**As promised! Another chapter! I just want to say, if this were a TV show, this chapter would be the season finale! AHH! I love it.**_

_**Ok go...go read!**_

_**Enjoy!**_

* * *

Chapter 11

Raph's anger shadowed his true feelings. _Why the hells is this bitch calling Leo?_ He threw the phone onto Leo's bed and stormed out of the room just in time to see Don and Leatherhead return. Raph quickly leaned on the balcony, "Donnie." He called, or shouted.

Don looked up, "We need to talk…now!" Raph growled.

Don's anger faded quickly, replaced with worry and concern. "What is it?" Don asked.

Raph went back into Leo's room, picked up the cell phone and walked back out, "Kitchen." He said, then slammed his fist into Mikey's door. "Hey! Mike, get out! Family discussion, now!"

The seriousness in Raph's voice made Mikey come out quickly, "What's going on?" He asked.

"Kitchen." Raph said again, then walked down the stairs.

Don turned to Leatherhead, "Umm…Just meet me in my lab, I shouldn't be too long." He said, then went into the kitchen. Leatherhead nodded and disappeared into Don's lab.

Mikey followed Raph into the kitchen and stood next to Don, "What's up Raph?" He asked.

Raph held up Leo's phone, "This."

Don took the phone and examined it, seeing a missed call from Karai.

"Karai?" He asked, passing the phone to Mikey, "Why is Karai calling Leo?"

"Exactly!" Raph growled.

"A better question," Mikey said, "Why is Karai's number even in Leo's phone? Because it would have come up as just a number. He would have had to put Karai in his contacts to see her name."

"What the hell?" Don said, taking the phone.

"What the hell is Leo doing?" Raph asked.

The thought occurred to Mikey, Leatherhead must know something. But did he want to mention it to Raph?

As the brothers continued talking, Leatherhead stood in the lab, listening to every word they were saying. Leatherhead didn't know what to think, Leo should have known that his brothers were smarter then he thought.

Suddenly, Mikey spoke.

"Guys, I need to tell you something."

Don and Raph stopped talking and looked at Mikey, "This morning, at like…five o'clock. Leo and Leatherhead were in the kitchen talking."

Leatherhead's heart plummeted, his mind rushed to try and find something to do.

"About?" Raph asked.

"Well…all I could get out of it was Leo talked to Bishop about something. Something about helping us. Leo said that he was going to go talk to him today."  
"Mikey!" Raph shouted, "Why didn't you tell any of us!"

"I don't know! I didn't think anything of it at the time!" Mikey shouted.

"You knew Leo was going to see Bishop and you thought that was nothing?" Don snapped.

"Leatherhead!" Raph shouted, walking out of the kitchen, he looked in the lab where he last saw him, but saw it was empty. "Leatherhead?" He called, then heard the lair door close.

Their heads turned toward the door, "Leatherhead!" Don shouted, running to the door and opening it. Once it opened, Don ran outside and scanned the sewers for Leatherhead, but he was gone.

….

Once Leo recovered enough from the electricity, he pushed himself up to his feet and ran after Stockman, who had ran into the stairwell. He slammed into the door and looked over the railing, seeing Stockman two floors below of him and running. Leo took off down the stairs.

"Stockman stop!" Leo shouted, trying to reason with him.

"I can't let you have this suitcase Leonardo!" Stockman shouted back.

Leo cursed under his breath and picked up the pace. He knew Stockman's plan, run out into the lobby where Leo was exposed.

Leo clenched his teeth and looked down over the railing, Stockman was still a floor below him, but they were coming close on the lobby.

"Stockman lets talk about this!" Leo pleaded.

"There's nothing to talk about turtle. You are not getting this suitcase, I don't care how much Bishop paid you." Stockman said.

Leo looked over the railing again and saw Stockman landing on the first floor. Leo saw no other option, he cursed under his breath, then leapt over the railing, freefalling in the tiny space toward the ground. His knees buckled when he landed and made him fall to the ground. Stockman didn't process what happened and ran past, Leo managed to get to his feet and tackle Stockman to the ground.

Leo hit the suitcase out of Stockman's hand and got off of Stockman. "God dammit turtle!" Stockman shouted, getting to his feet and glaring at him. Leo stood and followed Stockman's glare. The suitcase lay free near the door to the lobby.

"I am this close to finally getting away from this place. Why can't anyone see that I'm not trying to cause any more trouble! I just want to leave." Stockman said.

"No one is stopping you Stockman," Leo said, "But I can't let you take that suitcase."

" You know what, take it! I don't care anymore! Just let me get out of this damn city."

Stockman picked up the suitcase and walked back over to Leo, holding out, "Take it, just let me leave in peace."

Leo looked at the suitcase, then at Stockman, he reached and wrapped his hand around the handle, Stockman pulled the suitcase closer, forcing Leo face to be mere inches from Stockman's.

"You tell Bishop…tell him I said that it has been a pleasure working with him." Stockman said with a smug, raspy voice. Leo felt a chill roll down his spine. "One more thing," Stockman said.

Stockman shoved something into Leo's arm, again Leo felt the electricity flow through his skin. Stockman tore the suitcase out of Leo's hand and swung it at him, striking him in the side of the head and making him fall to the ground.

"It has also been a pleasure to know you turtle." Stockman said.

The electricity wasn't as powerful as it was when he first did it, so it died after seconds, but the blow to the head almost made Leo pass out. His ears rung as black spots flashed in his eyes. He looked up and saw Stockman go to open the door to the lobby, "Stockman!" Leo shouted, but it was useless.

Stockman opened the door, turned to Leo, "Goodbye turtle." He said, then turned to walk out.

A bullet entered his stomach, just below his lung. Then another in his neck, breaking his collarbone and sternum in one shot. Four more bullets hit him, one in the kneecap, one in the hand, tearing his fingers away and letting the suitcase hit the ground. And the last two hit his chest before he fell back.

The sound from the lobby flooded into the stairwell, even with ringing ears Leo could hear it perfectly.

Gunfire.

Leo quickly jumped up and slammed his body against the door. Head spinning at what just happened, but he did notice one thing, the gunman had a purple headband, a mark of the Purple Dragons.

Then Saki's assignment flashed back in his head. "What the hell happened?" Leo asked himself. He needed to find Karai, and fast.

The sound of Stockman coughing made his thoughts fade away. He glanced down at him and saw his wounds bleeding profusely. He quickly locked the door and knelt down next to Stockman. He knew that the Purple Dragon's could easily get in, but it still bought him some time.

"Stockman?" Leo asked.

"I was so close," Stockman coughed, "I…"

Stockman coughed, then he went still, head falling back and eyes staring into darkness. "Dammit." Leo cursed under his breath. Then he noticed something in his coat pocket. He pulled it out and examined it. It was an envelope and a plane ticket.

He opened the envelope and pulled out the note.

_Baxter, _

_I know you might be busy with whatever you're doing in New York. But I just wanted to let you know I miss you, and I know what kind of stuff you do. I worry about you everyday, I wish you would stop all that nasty stuff and come down here. Your home is here, not in some lab in New York. Please Baxter, I want to see my son again, and not on the news saying one of your experiments went wrong and you suffered some fatal accident. These notes aren't doing anything for me, please come home, there's always a place for you here. Just remember that._

_ Mom_

….

Karai stood up and paced the elevator, wondering what to do. She couldn't go to the lobby, that'd be suicide. She needed to find Leo and get back to the roof, it's their only means of escape.

The only way she could go was up, but how to tell Leo.

Then the thought hit her. She pulled out her cell phone and typed in Leo's pager number, sending the message, "Get to the roof!"

She sent the message and pushed the button to take the elevator to the top floor.

….

"Where the hell did Leatherhead go?" Raph growled, anger taking over. "Raph calm down, screaming isn't going to help anything." Don said.

Mikey paced in the main room while Don sat on the couch. Raph was standing near the lab, trying to figure this all out.

"So you think Leatherhead and Leo are up to something?" Mikey asked.

"It seems like it, I mean why else would Leatherhead run out right after you brought that up." Don claimed.

"Are we even sure Leatherhead has cancer? He could have claimed to have cancer just to hide us from something else." Raph said.

"I wondered that myself, I mean he didn't show any symptoms, nor did he even seem worried or upset. It just didn't make sense."

"Boys!" They all heard Splinter shout out softly.

Raph jerked up, "He wants all of us?" He asked.

"I'm guessing." Don said, getting up to walk toward Splinter's room. "Don wait, what about Leo?"

Don shrugged, "What else are we going to do, ignore him?"

Raph sighed, then followed Don and Mikey into Splinters room. "Yes sensei?" Raph called.

Splinter coughed, sounding as if he's having trouble breathing. "I-I think…it's my time."

….

Leo held the note in his hand, trying to keep unwanted tears in his eyes. Then suddenly, his pager vibrated in his belt. He cursed softly and looked at it.

_Get to the roof! – Karai_

Leo then remembered the situation he was in. Karai was either at the roof or heading there. He still didn't know the full extent on what was happening, all he knew was the Purple Dragons started opening fire in the lobby, and their probably still looking for Leo.

Leo groaned and he placed the note back in Stockman's pocket and grabbed the suitcase, "I'm sorry Stockman." Leo said, then began to run up the stairs.

He didn't hate Stockman, even after everything he's done to him and his brothers. Leo couldn't hate him for some reason. Maybe it was because he saw him die, and that made him look at Stockman differently.

He didn't know. But he had the suitcase, now he needed to get it back to Bishop. But first, he had to survive. He hoped that Karai made it to the roof safely. But the Purple dragons didn't seem like they knew Leo was in the stairwell, so he was safe for now.

He heard the door to the lobby blast open and footsteps stomp up the stairs. He looked down and saw about four purple dragons heading up.

"Find that damn turtle!" He heard one of them shout.

Leo felt his heart hammer as he pushed his legs to go faster up the stairs. He skipped three to four steps at a time, going from floor to floor.

He turned to run up the next flight of stairs, but saw only wall. He looked around confused for a second, and realized he must have made it to the top. But where's the roof access door?

Then he noticed the sign.

_Access to the roof in other stair well._

Leo groaned and pushed the door to the hall of rooms open. He locked the door and turned and made his way through the hall. The elevator on the other side of the hall, near the door to the stairs beeped. Leo froze. He half hoped to see Karai come out, but when the elevator doors opened, he saw only one Purple dragon, holding a heavy machine gun.

The purple dragon looked and smiled, "Found you!" He screamed, aimed his machine gun and fired.

On instinct, Leo tied the suitcase to his belt, unsheathed both of his swords and focused on the bullets. He swung his sword in front of the first wave of bullets and deflected them all, then swung his other sword in front of another, then began swinging his swords at the incoming bullets, deflecting them as he trudged through the hall. The Purple Dragon gasped, unable to believe that the turtle was blocking all of his bullets just by swinging his swords.

He continued to fire and Leo continued to run. Then the door behind Leo burst open, two more Purple Dragons began firing.

Leo's breath went shallow as he twisted and swung his swords at the incoming bullets behind him deflecting them while still blocking the bullets coming from in front of him.

As Leo continued to run, he swung his swords with grace, blocking the wave of bullets coming from in front of him and behind him. His concentration was unbreakable, his focus was indissoluble.

He swung his swords toward the Purple Dragon in the elevator and deflected more bullets, while twisting his body and swinging one sword behind him and deflecting another wave of bullets.

The Purple Dragon in the elevator ran out of ammo. Leo turned his back to him and focused on the two Purple Dragons in the stairwell, the Purple Dragon pulled out another cartridge and dropped the empty one. While still deflecting the wave of bullets, Leo launched himself in the air, kicked both the gun and the new cartridge out of his hand and scissor sliced the purple dragon's neck.

He landed on the floor, quickly sheathed his swords, grabbed the gun in the air, swung it at the cartridge and pushed it in, cocked the gun, then fired at the Purple Dragons.

The Purple Dragons retreated behind the wall as Leo continuously fired and slipped into the stairwell. He tossed the gun on the floor and pushed through to the staircase, instantly seeing a sign that points up the stairs, labeled "Roof Access".

He exhaled tiredly and sprinted up the stairs. He saw the door wide open, and Karai standing near it. "Leonardo!" Karai shouted, "Come quickly!"

Leo smiled and ran through the door. Karai slammed the door shut and Leo knelt down and gasped for air. "Are you alright?" Karai asked.

Leo caught his breath, "I think so," He said, trying to recount how he got from the first staircase to the second. "Karai what the hell happened down there?"

"I did as you said, got a stupid maids outfit and went to the room. But this other maid forced her way into the room and they shot her."

"What?"

"You were right Leonardo, they were waiting in there for you. They would have shot you as you walked in."

Leo breathed heavily, "Ok, now why did they start firing in the lobby?"

"Because, once they found out it wasn't you who entered. They saw their opportunity to find their way back to infamy."

"What the hell." Leo said, standing back up and putting his hands on his hips.

"What about you? Where were you?"

Leo got his breath back and sighed, "When I was at the front desk, I saw Stockman."

"Stockman? What was he doing here?" Karai asked, then noticed the suitcase, "And what's with the suitcase."

Leo went to explain everything, but the Purple Dragons smashed against the door, "I'll explain in the car, lets get out of here." Leo said quickly.

…

Before Raph could even process what he meant, Don was already at his side, holding his hand. "Sensei! It's going to be okay!" He said quickly.

"Oh my god." Mikey said softly, then ran to his side.

Raph didn't move, the sudden thought of leading his brothers without his father scared him.

"Raph, stop standing there! Come here and help me!" Don shouted, tears already welled up in his eyes.

"There's nothing you can do Donatello…this is my time. You must let me go in peace." Splinter said softly.

"No! No Sensei please!" Don pleaded.

Raph stepped behind Don and put his hand on Splinters shoulder, "Splinter…" Raph said, without knowing what to say.

"Where is Leonardo?" Splinter asked softly.

No one spoke, Raph and Mikey glanced up at each other while Don lowered his head in sadness. Raph inhaled, covering up the tears, "He's...not here Sensei."

…

Leo explained everything as Karai drove away from the hotel. He explained Bishop, Stockman, and the cure.

"So…if you return that suitcase, then your cancer will be cured?" Karai asked.

Leo smiled, then nodded.

"What will you do with Saki?" Karai asked.

Leo sighed, "I don't know…I'll figure something out."

Karai turned down the street and stopped the car a few blocks down from the building that Bishop said meet him.

Leo grabbed the suitcase, and opened the car door. "Leonardo." Karai called. Leo turned back and looked at her, "If this happens to be the last time I see you…thank you."

Leo smiled, "Why would this be the last time we see each other."

Karai shrugged, "Well, your disease will be cured and I'm sure you'll find a way to stop Saki. You will have no more assignments, so we are no longer partners."

Leo smiled again, "Don't worry, we'll see each other again." He said, then closed the door. He backed into the alley and watched Karai drive off through the streets and disappear from sight.

With suitcase in hand. Leo walked toward Bishop's building.

…

Splinter's eyes watered as he slowly nodded his head. "Please…do not demonize your brother for what he has done." Splinter said softly. "We all make mistakes." He took a long and painful breath, "I wish…I had realized that before. Then Leonardo might be here with me."

Upon hearing that, sadness left Raph, replaced with fury. "Sensei, Leo loves you." Mikey said quickly, "If he would have known-"

Splinter put a hand on his Mikey's hand, "I understand Michelangelo," He said quietly.

Splinter took a deep breath, one of his last, "I love you all…so much."

"Sensei?" Don said softly.

Splinter took one last breath, then closed his eyes and exchanged this sorrowful life for an immortal slumber.

….

Karai stopped the car in front of the foot building and exited, mind still running from the events that took place. But she had to remember that she wasn't supposed to be there. She will tell Saki that Leonardo successfully escaped and that the Purple Dragons had other plans.

She hoped that was enough.

She entered the building and tried to calm herself down as she made her way toward Saki's room. When she opened the door, she saw Saki standing by a window, gazing out into the murky New York sky.

"Hello father." Karai said.

Saki didn't move, "What do you want?" He growled.

Karai sensed his anger, and had thoughts of turning back and leaving it at that, but she pressed on. "I came to inform you that Leonardo had successfully went through with the mission."

Saki turned and faced Karai, he didn't respond, only walked toward her and stopped inches from her. "Is that so?"

Karai nodded.

Saki sighed, "And where were you?" He asked.

Karai felt as if a stone passed through his throat. "I was training in the dojo." She said. Saki quickly grabbed a chunk of her hair and pulled down hard, "Don't…lie…to me." He growled, "Where…were you?"

Karai didn't respond, only yelped as her father pulled her hair harder, then backhanded her, forcing her to the ground.

"I do not appreciate liars Karai," Saki said, walking toward the door, "Especially ones who go against my order and disobey my command." He said, grabbing the door, "Guess I'll have to teach you a lesson." He muttered, then closed the door.

….

Leo held the suitcase tight in his hand, jumping from rooftop to rooftop. Bishops building was in sight. He stopped for a second, glaring at the building.

This was it, Bishop had the cure. And Leo had the suitcase. But it meant the unnecessary death of Stockman. But, he guessed that old saying is true.

_Shit happens_.

Leo didn't know how to feel about Stockman, all he knew is that the cure was waiting for him.

As his mind drifted, the quiet night quickly turned to hell when the building that stood over the street, and the building Bishop was waiting for Leo in, erupted in a great explosion.

The light from the explosion made the night sky look like it was in the mid afternoon. The screams from the pedestrians below turned this quiet night into a night that they will never forget.

As the building burned and slowly began to crumble, Leo's fingers went numb, letting the suitcase slip through his fingers. He watched his only hope of survival, the only he hope he had left, crumble and disintegrate.

He fell to his knees.

Stockman's death.

The death of more then a hundred people in that hotel.

All for nothing.

The building shuddered, then in one moment, the moment where everything ceased to exist. The middle of the building deteriorated, taking the whole top of the building and sending it crashing to the ground.

As more and more people died. Leo couldn't help but think that his death sentence has been confirmed, and he was on death row, awaiting death.

Because the last bit of hope he had…was gone.

* * *

_**I don't know if you all noticed. But the flash forward in the beginning of Chapter 9 is the end to this chapter. So that gives you a little taste of how these flash forwards work.**_


	12. Chapter 12

_**Wow! Can't believe how fast i'm actually updating this! Anyway i still have loads of ideas for this story so you guys can bet that it isn't over yet. Just thought i'd throw that in.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

* * *

Chapter 12

The image of the explosion replayed over and over in Leo's head. He sat on the edge of April's apartment building, just staring out into space, Stockman's suitcase sitting next to him. April knew he was up here, she saw him climb up the fire escape. She asked if everything was okay. He didn't answer.

He didn't move.

Didn't want to think.

He didn't know what to do now. All he could do was keep working for Saki, in the hope that he will leave his brothers alone, which he wasn't so certain he was going to do.

He couldn't keep protecting himself like this, these assignments are way too risky. Leo hated Saki, not for what he's doing to Leo, but for knowing that after Leo is gone, he's still going to try and kill his brothers.

What was the point of continuing these stupid assignments if he knew that Saki isn't going to hold up his end of the bargain.

But what was Leo suppose to do. Tell him he's done and go back to living how he was back then, but still fear that when he is gone, his brothers are no longer safe, even with the guidance of Splinter.

Or he could continue working with Saki, continue with these stupid assignments that end up becoming a survival mission. And know that Saki still wants to get rid of the turtles.

Leo didn't know, nor did he want to think about it right now.

Leo couldn't believe that in one day, two of his archenemies had perished. Stockman, and Bishop. Leo wondered if explosion was accidental, or triggered by someone.

Then the thought flashed in his head.

"_Now here's a better questions. How are we going to get into the hotel without being seen? Because knowing Saki, he has hacked the camera's and will be watching."_

Saki might have been watching the cameras at the hotel, thus seeing Leo and Stockman. But Leo never mentioned his cancer, nor Bishop's intentions to Stockman. And even Saki would need more then a day to plant the explosive.

It didn't make sense, nothing did anymore.

Leo couldn't take it. He grabbed the suitcase and stood up. Then it hit him like a train, the headache, the nausea. He leaned on the air vent for support, suddenly feeling like crap.

Why was he feeling like this? He thought that the serum that Bishop gave him got rid of the symptoms. Or temporarily got rid of them? Bishop said that he gave him this serum to ease his mind. Maybe the serum was made only to work for a few hours, and Bishop knew that a few hours is all Leo needed to get his suitcase. Bishop didn't permanently get rid of his symptoms, he only numbed them so Leo could get his damn suitcase.

Leo groaned in anger, not only did he not get the cure, but his symptoms are back as well. He's right back where he started. Only now he has this suitcase.

Leo looked down at the suitcase with wonder, what was so special that both Stockman, and Bishop needed it so bad. Sure Bishop said something about blue prints and money, but for what?

Leo set the suitcase down on the air vent and examined the lock. It was a combination lock. But Don had taught Leo a while ago how to break into any combination lock when it came to suitcases. Within seconds, Leo hacked the combination and opened the suitcase.

Inside was a bunch of business stuff, papers and notes, blue prints that held no interest for Leo. But the bulky yellow envelope caught Leo's attention. He grabbed it, undid the latch and opened it. And as Bishop promise, inside were five stacks of one hundred thousand dollars bills.

None of that mattered. Leo didn't need money. He needed hope.

He threw the envelope back in the suitcase and closed it.

There was really no need for this suitcase anymore, the two people who needed it the most are both dead. But Leo couldn't part with it for some reason. Maybe he'll give it to Don to analyze.

Then it came to him. How is he going to tell his brothers that Stockman and Bishop are dead?

He didn't care.

He grabbed the suitcase and staggered toward the ladder, not feeling like jumping rooftop to rooftop. He decided a walk through the tunnels is what he needed.

He climbed down the ladder and knelt down near the manhole, trying to gather the strength to move the lid. The muscle ache's came back slowly, making Leo one step closer from wanting to just lay down and rot.

He managed to slide the lid off, but didn't have the strength to put it back. So he grabbed the suitcase, cautiously climbed down the ladder and began his walk back to the lair. Jumping from rooftops took about five minutes to get back. Taking the tunnels took about fifteen minutes.

Fifteen minutes of getting his head straight.

He's back to where he began before Bishop ever came into the picture. Now what was his plan back then?

_Keep doing Saki's assignments. _

And what did he hope to get out of that?

_Protection for his family._

Protection for his family after what?

_"You said so Saki would leave them alone when…what exactly?..._ _You can't even answer that question…can you?"_

Leatherhead was right. Leo's old plan seemed as if he were giving up. Maybe that's what Leo's flaw is. He never thought about himself when it came to this disease. He always thought of everyone else. His family, his friends.

Now if he were to think about himself, what would he do now? He always had this plan etched in the back of his mind, but he never thought it was necessary. But now he knew it was necessary, and he needed Karai's help.

He turned down into another tunnel and continued walking.

The questioned burned in his head.

_Who in the hell could have blown up that building? _

It had to have been someone who knew Leo and Bishop's deal, and had the time to go through with it. Couldn't have been Saki, but he's the only one that could have done it.

The lair wasn't far now, he wondered what his brothers were going to say when he walked in. Leaving on the note that he did. Leo didn't even know what to say. He had other business to take care of? And what would that business be if he so happens to ask.

Leo felt lost. As if he were walking aimlessly through a never-ending labyrinth. It seemed like every time Leo got close to something good, it ends up dying and leaving Leo with nothing.

The only silver lining in his dark cloud was his family. The family that he needed now more then ever.

Once he got to the lair, he pulled the lever down and the doors slid open. He felt like hell, head burning, muscles aching, a severe pain in his chest. He wished he could see Bishop again, just to hit him in the face really hard.

His thoughts faded once he entered, seeing the lair was empty.

"Guys?" Leo called. No response.

He groaned, walked into the kitchen, set the suitcase on the table and got himself a drink of water. As he chugged the liquid delight, he heard something off in the distance. He stood silent and listened.

Soft sobs.

Panic took over as he tried to pinpoint where it was coming from. He set the glass down and took off in a fearful run around the lair, then stopped in the main room, eyeing Splinter's room. He could tell the sobs were coming from in there, but he couldn't see anything.

He slowly walked toward the door and peeked inside. His stomach churned when he saw his brothers hovering over Splinters bed.

"What's going on?" Leo asked in a rough whisper.

Don and Mikey looked up at him, tears flooded both of their eyes. Raph didn't bother to look up, but Leo didn't care. Once Don moved, Leo saw it.

Splinter, covered by a thin sheet.

Leo didn't need to be told anything to know what has happened. Tears suddenly surged in his eyes, Mikey noticed and hurried over to him, wrapping his arms around his.

Leo couldn't even process any words, nor could he even think. The only thing he could think of was slowly killing him inside.

_He wasn't here._

All his brothers were there, but him.

Leo backed away from Mikey's hug, face stricken with misery and guilt. "Leo?" Mikey called.

Leo shook his head, slowly backing away from it all. "Leo, please." Mikey pleaded. Leo couldn't do it, he couldn't be here. He shook his head, turned around and bolted toward the door, "Leo!" Raph called, forcing his way past Mikey just to see Leo run out of the lair.

"LEO!" Raph bellowed and the lair doors closed.

"God dammit!" Raph shouted.

"Raph, please." Don quietly muttered.

"Who does he think he is?!" Raph shouted, "He wasn't here when Splinter died and then runs out again!"

"Raph It's not Leo's fault alight? He didn't know!" Don shouted, Raph stopped and glared at him, "It could have been any of us!" Don continued, "Mikey could have went out for some pizza. I could have gone out to see April. You could have gone out on one of your late night excursions. But it was Leo who wasn't here. And I'm sure if he knew that Splinter was dying, that he would have been here."

Raph didn't respond, he lowed his head, still feeling intense anger. He shook his head and headed for the lair door, "I'm gonna go let April and Casey know, and find a spot to bury him." He said, then walked out of the lair.

Don sighed softly, rubbing his head.

"He's scared."

Don froze, then looked back at Mikey, "What?"

Mikey closed Splinter's door and untied his mask, "He's not mad at Leo. He's scared." Mikey said, "He just became the new leader and now he has to lead without Splinter's guidance. But instead of showing fear, he's turning it into anger. And the only person he can take his anger out on right now is Leo."

Don chuckled bitterly, knowing that Mikey was making sense. "So what are you suggesting we do?"

Mikey held his mask tightly in his hand as he took a washcloth from the bathroom and wiped his face, "Well…right now I see two options." He said, "Try to get Leo here and talk to Raph, encourage him that he can do it and all that junk."

Don thought about that option, "And what about the next?"

Mikey removed the washcloth and looked at Don, "We convince Raph to make Leo leader again."

…

Leo landed hard on the ground, he had been pushing himself to the limit jumping from rooftop to rooftop. He held his aching shoulder and rolled to his shell in the alley. Tears were rolling down his face, he grunted and forced himself up, pushing his aching muscles to climb up the ladder.

Once he made it to the top, he caught his breath, ignoring the pain as he sprinted and hurled himself to the next rooftop.

His father is dead, and Leo wasn't there for him. As he thought about it, he realized that he hasn't been there for him since he made Raph leader. He hasn't really been there for anyone. That made him feel even worse.

He stopped and caught his breath.

He blamed Saki, for everything. For Stockman's death. For Bishops death and the explosion. For Leo not being there with Splinter because of his stupid assignment. For tearing his whole family apart.

It was all Saki.

Leo clenched his teeth as his muscles screamed in pain, but he didn't listen. He scanned the area and spotted the foot building. Blinded with fear and misery, he pushed on toward the foot building.

He didn't know why, but he needed to talk to Karai. He felt like she could help him. He didn't know how, he just did.

He couldn't imagine what's going through Raph head right now. Leo knew what it was like being leader. But he couldn't imagine doing it without Splinter. Leo felt sorry for Raph to be honest. He wished he could be there for him right now, but Leo had something more important to do.

He jumped through the air and landed gracefully on the ground, trying to ignore the sudden pain. He looked up at the foot building, anger growing within and he stepped toward it.

As always there was a foot ninja posted outside. He walked up and the foot ninja chuckled, "What are you doing here turtle?" he asked.

"Tell Saki that I want to see him." Leo growled.

"Sorry," The foot ninja snickered, "Shredder isn't taking visitors."

Leo wrapped is hand around the ninja's neck and slammed his up against the wall, "Did I stutter?" Leo growled roughly, "I want to see Saki…now!"

The foot ninja pushed Leo away and unsheathed his sword, "Shredder doesn't want to be bothered. Now turn around, and leave." The foot ninja threatened.

Leo felt his anger boil, he grabbed his sword, pulled it out and swung it at the foot ninja's sword, cutting the blade in half. The foot ninja stared in shock at his sword as Leo planted his foot into the ninja's stomach, when the ninja staggered into the wall, Leo grabbed the ninja's head, threw up his knee and slammed the ninja's head on his knee, knocking him out.

Leo tightened his grip as he stepped in front of the door, thrust his sword into the metal lock and kicked the door open. He kept his sword in hand as he walked down the corridor, he expected there to be tons of foot ninja's to attack him, but it was empty.

He didn't dwell on this thought for long as he turned into another corridor and kicked down the door of Saki's room. He scanned the room for Saki, but instead, found another foot ninja.

"Where is he?!" Leo growled, charging at the foot ninja and grabbing the collar of his uniform.

"He is gone." The foot ninja said simply. Leo's anger skyrocketed as he threw the foot ninja to the ground and held the tip of his blade to his throat. "WHERE IS HE?!" He screamed.

The foot ninja smiled , "Nobody knows."

Leo lashed out, he pinned the foot ninja to the ground and smashed his fist into his face, "YOU LIAR!" He screamed, smashing his fist into his face again, "TELL ME WHERE HE IS!" He continuously began to beat him, screaming at the foot ninja.

Leo's knuckles began to tear, covering his whole fist with his blood and the blood that spurted from the foot ninja's nose. Tears flooded out of Leo's eyes as he beat the foot ninja, letting all of his anger and sadness out with each blow.

The guilt of killing Hun.

The depression of watching Stockman die.

The betrayal of hope he held for Bishops cure.

The misery of his fathers' death.

And the anger toward Saki.

Then, it all stopped.

Leo stopped throwing punches. He caught his breath as he gazed down at the face of the foot ninja. Nose broken, face covered with blood, eye swollen and bruised.

He felt his heart drop as he backed away from the coughing and sputtering foot ninja. Jaw dropped and eyes staring in pain.

He looked down at his hands, seeing them covered in blood.

Only one thought raced through Leo's mind.

_What have I become?_

…

The rain came down hard through the thick, cloudy night sky. Leo stood on the edge of a building, looking out into the dark New York City rooftops. He closed his eyes and let the rain splash over him. He had been standing up here for almost two hours. Just thinking.

He was horrified at what he had done to that foot ninja. He never acted in such a way, and it scared him. What was this disease turning him into?

Did he even know who he was anymore?

"Leonardo?"

Leo froze, not expecting anyone to be up here with him. But the voice calmed him slightly. He turned and saw Karai standing on the building with him. He smiled, then turned back to he sight.

"Where's Saki?" Leo asked.

Karai shook her head, cringing slightly at the name. "He just…walked out…didn't tell anyone where he was going." She said, walking to his side.

Leo chuckled slightly. He should have known that the foot ninja's really didn't know where he was, but at the time he was so blinded by sadness and anger that he didn't care.

He turned and faced Karai, feeling his stomach lurch. "Karai! What happened to you?" He asked.

She had a gash running from her ear to her chin, a nasty looking tear in his lip, and an slightly swollen black eye. Karai looked down, hiding her shame, "Saki wasn't to happy that I tagged along." She said, rubbing the back of his head.

"How did he find out?" Leo asked.

Karai smiled sadly, "He had camera's Leonardo, he was watching us talk in the training room."

Leo shook his head, frowning, "I'm sorry."

Karai shook her head, "It's not your fault. Things just got out of hand." She said.

Leo looked down, nodding slightly, tears formed in his eyes. Karai noticed his sudden despair. "What's wrong?" She asked.

Leo looked up at her, tears streaming down his face, "Splinter's dead."

Karai felt her heart plummet, she threw her hand up to her mouth. Leo broke down, covering his face as non-stop tears flooded out of his eyes, "And I wasn't there." He cried. "I wasn't there for him."

Karai grabbed Leo's shoulders and threw her arms around him, he wrapped his arms around her and sobbed hard in his shoulder.

"Shh, I'll be ok Leonardo." She calmly consoled.

The rain continued to bombard New York as Karai and Leo held each other on the roof.

Leo muttered something, but Karai didn't understand him. "What?" She asked, looking at him.

Leo pulled away and glared at Karai, "We need to end this now. End this before what happened at the hotel happens again."

Karai gazed at him in confusion, "What do you mean?"

Leo took a deep breath, "We need to get rid of Saki."


	13. Chapter 13

_**Hello again my great readers! Here is the moment you have all been waiting for! That's all i'll say!**_

_**Enjoy!**_

* * *

Chapter 13

The sun hid behind the clouds, giving the sky a greyish look. The bitter chill the wind gave made the day less admirable, the trees rustled as the leaves danced in the wind. The day was already unpleasant, what with the rebuilding of lives after two tragedy's in one day. The hotel shooting, and the explosion.

But that didn't matter much for the four brothers, the worst part of it all was losing their father in the midst of it all.

Leo stood, head lowered, hands held together, just thinking.

Last night after what happened on the roof with Karai, there was nothing left for Leo to do. So he went home, and grieved over his father's death with his brothers and Raph, who returned home shortly after.

When Leo returned home, no one bothered to ask where he was, nor asked any questions. They enjoyed the time spent with each other.

Leo still felt guilt in his heart, upon hearing what Splinter had said to his brothers just before he died. Leo remembered a time when he thought he had to be perfect, a time where he thought he wouldn't do any bad. But look at him now.

Lying to his family.

Killed Hun.

He doesn't know why, but he blamed himself for causing the hotel shooting.

In his mind, if he walked into the room himself, he would have been able to stop the purple dragons himself, before they could call the others to start shooting.

Leo knew it wasn't good for him to put all this pressure on him, but he couldn't help it.

He knew if Splinter were here, he would tell him that it is not good to put unnecessary stress on yourself, because it will only blind you from the real problem. But what's the real problem? This disease.

A problem is something that can be solved. So there's no solving this disease, so that can't be the real problem.

Could Saki be the problem? Leo thought about that, what would it solve if Saki was out of the picture? It would guarantee the safety of his brothers after Leo is gone.

There it is again, giving up.

But how else is he going to say it? He can't say when this disease is cured. Because he would just be lying to himself if he said that. So there's really no other way to say it.

It's not giving up.

It's being honest.

Raph took a deep breath, then exhaled. Trying to calm himself down, it seemed like Raph couldn't go two seconds without worrying about something and get all worked up.

He wished Splinter were here so he could help him through this tough time. But he guessed that's what his brothers were here for.

Well, most of them.

He glared inconspicuously at Leo, seeing him with his eyes closed and head bowed.

He wanted Leo to realize just how much he was hurting this family. Or was hurting the right word? Maybe worrying is better. Leo was never the one who went out without telling anyone and come back, sometimes with new injuries. Raph wondered just why he had to kill Hun by himself. He could have gotten the three of them to help him.

But that's just it. The turtles have fought with Hun countless times. But Leo goes at it alone once and manages to kill him. Then Raph thought about it, of all those times they fought with Hun, did they ever really try to kill him? And Leo being the one to kill him. It just didn't make any sense.

All Raph knew is that Leo is getting himself into trouble, he didn't know what kind of trouble, or even why he's doing it. But he knew that Leo's going to get himself killed one day.

But he still couldn't help but be angry with him, he knew inside he really wasn't upset with him, but when he's around Leo, he felt it rise out of nowhere.

Then he realized it.

Raph was envious of Leo.

Ever since Splinter made Raph leader, their roles in the family have switched. Raph was now the responsible leader while Leo was the reckless one. Leo was making all the same mistakes Raph was, but when Raph went out, he tried picking fights with gangs or foot ninjas because he wanted to show the Shredder that the turtles meant business. But Leo goes out and kills Hun.

So what the hell is Leo doing this for?

Don sighed, "Anyone want to say anything before we leave?" He asked.

Everyone looked up, April rubbed his hand through her hair while Casey fixed his jacket.

"Well, what's there really to say?" Leo said, everyone looked at him.

"He was our father. He taught us to protect ourselves in this harsh world. He taught of the true meaning of honor and that family is the most important thing in life." He looked over at his brothers, "I wish I could show just how much I care about you guys. You guys mean everything to me. And I feel without honor that I wasn't there for Splinter…for you guys."

Don frowned as Raph gave a little smirk.

"But I know that Splinter is still with us. Watching over us, guiding us to what's right, and what's wrong. But even with that, it's still hard to imagine life without him. The only thing we can do now is remember everything's he's taught us and keep his memory alive."

Leo finished talking and the funeral ended, April and Casey said their goodbyes and left. The turtles said their final goodbyes and began walking toward the forest. All but Leo.

Don turned, "Leo? You coming?"

Leo nodded, "Yeah, just…give me a minute. I'll meet you guys at the van."

Don frowned, nodded, then left Leo alone.

Leo sighed.

"Look sensei," He said softly, "I know I disappointed you as a leader. But I hope that I didn't disappoint you as a son." He said, then turned and looked around, seeing if he was alone.

"I have cancer father…" He said softly, "And I've been working with Saki in the hopes that he would leave our family alone when I'm gone." Leo sighed, rubbing his head, "I should have known he wouldn't stay true to his word. But don't worry father. Karai and I are going to put him down once and for all. And I'm doing it for you."

Leo stopped, unable to say anymore. He heard footsteps walk out of the forest and stop right near him. He smiled softly, "Thanks for coming." Leo said softly. Karai nodded, "It's my pleasure."

They stood silently, Leo mourning his father while Karai was just there, comforting a friend.

"Any word on Saki?" Leo asked, changing the mood.

Karai turned, "They're saying he's in hiding."

"Hiding? From what?"

Karai looked into Leo's eyes, "From you."

Leo felt his stomach quiver, "Me?"

Karai nodded, "You killed Hun. And when he heard that Stockman and Bishop died. He instantly blamed you. So he's hiding…from you. He will still make assignments, but he won't be there to give them to you."

Leo felt his stomach lurch in anger, "Great." He said softly.

Karai put a hand on his shoulder, "Do not worry Leonardo, I think I know where he is." Karai said. Leo quickly turned and faced her, "Where?" He asked.

"Well," Karai said reluctantly, "He's still in New York, that I know for a fact. But the only logical place to hide with people you still control, but who you are not associated with." She said.

"The Purple Dragons." He groaned.

Karai nodded.

"And how many Purple Dragon hideouts are there in New York?" Leo asked hesitantly.

Karai sighed, "Thirty two."

Leo chuckled darkly, starting to pace as he rubbed his chin, "And you're sure he's in one of them?" Leo asked sternly.

"I'd bet my life on it." She said.

Leo nodded, "Then I need you to get me the addresses of all the hideouts, we'll scope the places out."

"What about your assignments?" Karai asked.

Leo glared at wooden plank with Splinter's name on it. "I'll be fine."

…..

Leo and Karai said their goodbyes and went their separate ways, Leo returned to the van and the brothers drove home, in silence.

Once they got back to the lair everything settled down. Mikey went right to his video games.

"Mikey? Would it kill you to take a break from the games?" Don asked.

"The way I see it!" Mikey said, "It's either sit here and sulk, or play video games and distract myself."

Don smirked, "Good point." Don said, then went right into his lab.

Raph groaned, rubbing his head as he walked into the kitchen. Leo exhaled deeply, then sat down on the couch next to Mikey.

"Feels like I haven't seen you in forever." Mikey said.

Leo sighed, rubbing his eyelids, "Tell me about it."

Mikey sensed the regret in his voice and left it at that.

Leo watched as Mikey played his game, if he had forgotten about Splinter, it would feel like the old days. Where there were no worries except maybe the occasional foot attack. Leo wanted things to go back to the way they were, but that would be a miracle.

He couldn't imagine what would happen to the three of them if Leo passed. Them being without Splinter or Leo? Leo was sure that Raph could step up and become a great leader, but the emotional toll that would take.

Leo thought it be best not to think about it.

Suddenly, he thought about the suitcase. Don should be free, he could analyze what the contents could mean.

He got up from the couch and walked into the kitchen, Raph was looking for something in the fridge while Leo quickly went inside and grabbed the suitcase.

"I was just gonna ask." Raph said, closing the door, "What's with the suitcase?"

Leo held the suitcase in his hands, "It's Stockman's." Leo said on quick thinking. "Stockman?" Raph laughed, obviously fake, "And what were you doing with Stockman? Actually no," He said, facing Leo, "A better question is, why the hell is Karai calling you?"

Leo felt his heart plummet, "What do you mean? On my shell cell?"

"Don't play dumb."

"Who's playing dumb?" Leo snapped, "I asked if it was on my shell cell?"  
"Yes Leo, It was on your damn shell cell." Raph growled.

"Then I don't know, maybe she got the wrong number."

"Oh don't even go their Leo, you're hiding something from us and we deserve to know what it is." Raph snarled.

"And what is it that you think I'm hiding Raph?"

"Maybe that talk that you and Leatherhead had that one morning. About going to see Bishop." Raph grunted. Leo felt his throat tighten, "How did you-" Leo began.

"Mikey was awake, he heard it and told us." Raph answered, "And when we went to question LH, he ran out on us and no one has heard from him since."

Leo exhaled, gazing behind him at Mikey, who was playing his game, but obviously listening.

"So lets see here, you're running around with Stockman, Bishop, and Karai. And you're telling me I don't know what I'm talking about when I say you're hiding something." Raph explained, "And lets not forget Hun, you just had to kill him. You never gave a reason, but you had to."

"Enough!" Leo shouted, "You don't have to worry about Bishop or Stockman anymore!"

"And why is that?!" Raph egged on.

"Because their dead."

Raph stopped in his tracks, as if constrained. Leo could tell he was going to say something else, but shock washed over his face, stopping everything. Leo felt his heart race as he turned out of the kitchen and walked into the main room, where Mikey had his game paused and staring at Leo while Don stood outside of his office, also staring.

"What?" Mikey asked.

"How?" Don added.

"Turn on the news." Leo commanded, then sat down.

Mikey quickly scatted for the remote then changed it to the news. They were talking about the hotel shooting.

"Stockman." Leo said softly.

Then the story changed, talking about the explosion.

"Bishop."

"Wait," Mikey said, muting the TV, "You're saying that Stockman died at the hotel and Bishop died when the building exploded. In the same night?"

Leo nodded.

"That can't be a coincidence." Don said.

Leo shrugged, then focused back on the TV. They were talking about to some dude guy named Quinton Nark . On the bottom read _Survivor of building explosion speaks out_.

"_The place, in my opinion was a time bomb. They were experimenting with some crazy stuff upstairs_."

That was enough for Leo to shoot up and stare at the TV.

"Should…should we do something?" Mikey asked.

"No." Raph said quickly, "This is none of our business." He walked out of the kitchen and into the dojo, disappearing from sight.

"Raph's right, lets just let bygones be bygones." Don said.

Leo continued watching the man on TV. Trying to find a name. And when the anchor finally said his name, Leo jumped out of his seat and pulled his shell cell out of his pocket, quickly typing in April's number.

He stepped into the bathroom as her phone rung, then she picked up.

"Hey Leo! Everything ok?" She asked quickly, as if expecting something to be wrong.

"Yeah, everything's fine." He lied, "April, I need you to do me a favor."

"Sure thing." She said, trying to sound cheerful.

"I need you to find the someone for me." Leo said quickly, "His name is Quinton Nark."

"Umm, ok. I'll start looking now." She said.

"Good, I'm on my way now." He said, then hung up the phone. He rushed out of the bathroom and saw Don and Mikey still standing in the main room, Leo knew he couldn't just walk out, but he had no choice. He didn't want lie to them anymore.

But he needed to get to April, and he needed to talk to that guy.

He shook his head, then walked out of the bathroom. "I'm going out." Leo said in a growl. Don and Mikey glanced up at him, "Ok." Mikey said reluctantly.

"Leo," Don called, putting a hand on his shoulder, "Whatever you're doing…just…please be careful." He said in a whisper.

Leo felt his heart warm as he smiled softly, "Of course." Leo said, putting his hand on Don's, '"Could you take a look at that suitcase for me?" Don smirked, "Sure."

Leo smiled and turned toward Don, "Try talking to Raph, he needs someone to talk to." He suggested.

Don shook his head, "I'm not the one that needs to talk to. It's you that should talk to him." Leo frowned, lowering his head, "I figured." He said softly. Then took a deep breath, "I'll talk to him when I get back." Leo said.

Don nodded, then watched Leo walked out of the lair.

…

Leo landed on April's roof and began climbing down the emergency exit. The thought crossed his mind that he was wasting his time, there was a good chance that this man didn't know anything about Bishop, but then there's that sliver of chance that he does, and that's enough for Leo.

He climbed through April's window to find her sitting at the computer. "You got anything yet?" Leo asked upon entering.

"Almost, tracking down his address now." She said, Leo nodded and paced around the apartment.

"What about you? How are you holding up?" April asked.

Leo sighed, "I don't know, I guess I've been better."

April frowned, "Listen, I know you're going through some hard times now, but just remember, there's always that light at the end of the tunnel."

Leo puffed, "Well…my light always seems to die out whenever I get close to it."

Before April could speak again, the computer beeped, April jumped and walked over to the computer, "I've got him." She said as she tore a piece of paper out of a notebook and wrote the address down.

She stood up and held up the piece of paper, "Here's your address." She said. Leo nodded a thanks and went to grab it before April pulled it away. Leo stared at April in confusion, "Leo...have you told the others?"

Leo frowned, staying quiet.

"Leo…I know you don't think so but you're brothers need to know."

"I know." Leo said softly as he reached for the address, he plucked it out of her hand and went for the window, "Leo I'm serious!" She almost shouted. Leo stopped, gazing out of the window. "If you don't tell them and you…" She stopped, taking a breath, "They will never know…do you want that for them? And look at Splinter. He will never know because you refused to tell him."

Leo turned, anger boiling in his stomach, "Are you telling me this is my fault?"

"No!" She snapped, "I'm saying your brothers deserve more then what you're giving them!" She shouted.

"I'm doing this to protect them!" Leo admitted.

"How!? By keeping them in the dark?"

Leo stopped, clenching his fist, "You don't understand…you don't understand what I'm going through!"

"Neither does your brothers…and if they did know…they could help you."

Leo shook his head, going to climb out of the window, "No one can help me." He said, then crawled out of the window and climbed down the fire escape.

…..

Leo threw his coat on and tilted his head to cover his face. This guy lived in an apartment complex in northern Manhattan. This part of the city wasn't the nicest, but in the day it wasn't as bad.

Leo gazed at the large building, the guy lived on the first floor thankfully, but the door required a card to get into. There have been reports of people breaking in and stealing, so they installed a card reader and required all people living in the complex to have a card.

Leo frowned, wondering how he could get in.

He didn't have time, and only had one idea.

Leo exhaled nervously, then approached the door. The small metal plate was beside the wooden door, Leo examined it quickly, then backed up. After a moment's hesitation, he slammed his foot against the door and the door blasted open.

He quickly ran inside before anyone could see him and cautiously walked down the hall, looking down at the piece of paper. His apartment was number 008, and he needed to be quick before he was noticed.

When he found the door, he quickly knocked and looked around to see if anyone was on him. When the door opened, Leo shushed the man by putting a hand over his mouth and went inside, shutting the door behind him.

"It's ok! I'm not going to hurt you!" Leo said quickly, uncovering the man's mouth. The man quickly backed away in fear, "Take whatever you want! Please don't hurt me!" He said quickly.

"I'm not here to hurt you!" Leo said quickly, "Are you Quinton Nark?"

"Yes, how do you-" Quinton started, then stopped, "Wait…its you." He said in awe, "The turtle."

Leo felt his heart hammer for some reason. "You're the one who needed the cure we've been working on."

"Yes." Leo said quickly.

"Well don't get you hopes up, because I don't have any." Quinton explained.

Leo felt his mind rush, "Well…do you know how to make it?" He asked.

Quinton thought about it, rubbing his chin, "I don't know how to make it, but I do know where you can get some." He informed, "Some guy came in a day or two before you did and demanded Bishops whole supply of the cure. But Bishop kept some because he knew he would need it for you." He explained, "It seemed like the guy and Bishop knew each other."

"Do you know who is was?" Leo asked.

Quinton moved by the window and leaned against the windowsill. "Saki or something like that."

Leo felt his heart turn to stone, "You've got to be kidding me." He said softly.

"And one more thing," Quinton started. Leo glanced up at him. "Bishop was talking about some emergency batch that he always-"

Suddenly, the glass from the window behind him shattered, Quinton stopped dead in his tracks as he fell forward. Leo's eyes widened when he saw Quinton hit the floor, gaping hole in his forehead.

"NO!" Leo shouted as he stared at the body, then a newfound anger washed over him. He ran to the window and looked out, seeing a figure on top of a building across from the complex move and jump to another building.

"God dammit." Leo shouted, slamming his fist into the wall.

He turned and looked back at Quinton, feeling soft sadness linger inside. Then the feelings went away when a boisterous knock sounded through the apartment.

"Hey? Is everything alright in there?" The man from behind the door asked.

After a minute with no response, the man took out his master key and unlocked the door. When he opened it, he saw a window broken and a man on the floor, puddle of blood forming from his head.

"Someone call 911!" The man shouted.

….

Karai moved as fast as she could when she got Leo's message. She was told to meet him at Splinter's grave, odd place to meet, but Karai didn't complain. She moved through the forest and tried to remember where exactly he was buried. It was getting dark and it looked like it was starting to rain.

She had managed to get all of the addresses, and even tried to find out where Saki was herself, but she didn't find anything useful.

Karai skidded to a stop when she saw the open area in which Splinter was buried. Leo was standing at his grave, mourning silently. She crept up and stood right next to him.

It was silent for a minute before Leo spoke, "Did you get the addresses?" He asked.

Karai nodded.

Leo took a deep breath, "Good."

It was silent again.

"There was a survivor." Leo said quickly.

Karai turned and faced Leo, looking at him curiously, "A survivor?"

Leo turned and followed her stare, "In Bishop's building. There was a survivor. And I visited him."

"And?" Karai badged impatiently.

Leo rubbed his head, "There's another supply of the cure out there." He said reluctantly. "Who has it?" Karai asked.

Leo glared at her, "Who do you think?"

Karai instantly knew, "What? How could he have gotten it?"

"No idea, but he also said something about Bishop keeping an emergency batch somewhere." Leo informed.

"Did he say where?"

Leo shook his head, "Someone gunned him down before he could tell me."

Karai felt her heart plummet, "Someone killed him?" She asked. Leo nodded. "Did you see who it was?" She asked. Leo sighed, "He was too far away, I couldn't see."

Karai put her hands on her hips, thinking of something to do. Leo crossed his arms and looked at Splinters grave, wondering what he would have done in a situation like this.

"Leo, what the hell are you doing." The both of them heard.

Leo felt his heart drop upon realizing whom the voice belonged to. "Oh crap." He said softly as the both of them turned around. Leo looked up and saw his red masked brother, hands crossed, leaning on a tree. It was then when the sky decided to let the rain emerge from the clouds.

"What are you doing here Raph?" Leo asked.

"I could ask you the same question." Raph contradicted. Leo felt his heart hammer as Raph began walking toward them, "I'm just sitting here, grieving over sensei, trying to cope with leading alone, and worrying about you while you're out here running around with this bitch!"

"Karai get out of here." Leo said quickly, stepping in front of her. "Leonardo," She said, trying to hide the anger. "Just go, I'll talk to you tomorrow." He said.

Karai looked at Leo, then at Raph. "Be careful." She said softly, then ran into the woods.

"Well that brought a tear to my eye." Raph said sarcastically.

"Raph what are you doing?" Leo asked in a dark tone.

"What am I doing?" He asked in shock, "What the hell are you doing?" He shouted, "I'm trying to fix everything that's screwed up and you're not here to help, nor are you here at all."

Leo lowered his head, feeling shame and guilt explode in his gut, "Thanks to you, I'm the leader because of your sudden need to be distant and irresponsible. And when we need you, you're out doing god knows what." Raph shouted, "Do you know how much Splinter needed to talk to you, but guess what, you weren't there. And to make things better, you weren't that at Splinter's death bed." Raph shouted, getting angrier, "The one thing he wanted…the one thing…it for all of us to be there. AND YOU WEREN'T!" Raph screamed.

The rain picked up, as if mimicking Raph's anger, "Who do you think you are?" Raph growled, "Leaving me, Don, and Mikey to worry. Leaving Splinter to think that you don't care about him anymore. Hell leaving all of us to think that you don't care about us."

"Raph…stop." Leo pleaded.

"And when you do come home, you look like crap and when I try to be a good brother and help you, you walk out again. Leaving us in the dirt, leaving Leatherhead when he needs us, leaving Splinter."

Leo couldn't control it anymore, "Goddammit Raph!" He shouted, feeling numb, "Leatherhead doesn't have cancer."

Raph glared at Leo in confusion, "What do you-"

"I do." Leo finally admitted.


	14. Chapter 14

_**Today marks the last day of my vacation. I will be home tomorrow, but should still have more time to update often. So you an look forward to that. This is the part of the story where the character development takes a turn for the worst!**_

_**Enjoy! **_

* * *

Chapter 14

The rain cascaded from the clouds with a blistering force. Drowning out the usual sounds of the forest and replacing it with the sound of water splashing into the ground. Every raindrop felt like tiny hammers against a fragile skin. The sky boomed in a boisterous cacophony of thunder as the lightning shined the sky in an eerie light.

Raph stood among the rain, next to his buried father, staring at his older brother with the news that swirled in his head. He stared deep into Leo's eyes, looking for an sign, even the slightest flinch that he wasn't telling the truth.

Leo hasn't been truthful the past couple days, so why should Raph believe him now. But then he thought about what Don said, about how Leatherhead having cancer didn't make sense. Leo was the one with all the symptoms, Leo was the one who was suffering. It made sense.

But just because it made sense, didn't mean Raph still didn't believe him. Or didn't want to believe him.

"What?" Raph said after seconds of silence in a voice that sounded of defeat.

Leo took a deep breath, he didn't respond, just simply stared. Raph's hand twitched, he turned and looked into the forest, feeling his heart hammer and gut start to hurt. "Leo," He said softly, covering his mouth with his wrist. He turned and looked back at Leo. Even in the rain Leo could see his eyes begin to water.

Raph shook his head, trying to hold back the tears as they trickled out of his eyes. Raph went to talk, but stopped, unable to speak. He inhaled, "What did you say?" He managed to say in a voice rougher then stone.

Leo felt his lip tremble as he shivered, "I…." He started, but couldn't find it in himself to finish. He couldn't find it in himself to even speak. Leo closed his eyes as a small teardrop managed to escape from his eyelids, "I have cancer Raph." He said.

Even though he has said that before, it never quite felt as terrible as it did now. Raph reacted before Leo even finished, putting is hands on his head and turning away from Leo. He sputtered as he tried to contain himself, trying to act like the leader. He shook his head, not wanting to believe it. He felt like he was in a dream, like none of it was real. He wanted to wake up in his bed and breath a sigh of relief that it was all a dream.

But it wasn't. His brother was in fact standing there, telling him that he is going to die.

Raph turned back around and tried to speak, but again, his throat was clogged up and he couldn't. Leo could see Raph trying to hold back his emotion, but he knew that Raph was on the verge of breaking down, something he rarely did.

Raph coughed, then inhaled to try and cover his sobs, "Is that why you're doing all this?" Raph asked, not trying to hide the sobs anymore.

Leo frowned, tasting the salty drop of tears as it hit the edge of his lip. "Killing Hun, going after Bishop and Stockman, teaming up with Karai…as some sort of retaliation against yourself." Raph sputtered, wiping his face of the rain and tears.

Leo had thoughts about telling him about Saki, but decided to keep that in the dark.

"Well…" Raph said, "If you're going to get yourself into trouble…I want in."

Leo flinched upon hearing that, "What?"

"If you're going to risk yourself out there, then might as well risk mine." Raph said, stepping toward him.

Leo cursed to himself, "Raph…" He said softly, "I can't let you."

"Why!" Raph suddenly screamed, "You can't just expect us to sit back and do nothing while you're out playing crusader or some shit like that?" Raph shouted.

Leo bit back the urge to fight, he knew he couldn't let Raph help him, or Saki would surely attack the turtles without mercy. But how was he going to get Raph to not help?

"You can help…" Leo said softly, "Help by leading our brothers."

"Bullshit!"

"Listen to me Raph!" Leo began to shout, "If you come out and help me, and god forbid something happens, Mikey and Don will be without a leader, and would have lost two brothers!" Leo shouted, "I'm not going to let my brothers risk their life for me when I'm already going to die."

Raph chuckled darkly, "So that's it…you're throwing in the towel? Just going to lie back and die?"

"What choice do I have!" Leo shouted, "This cancer isn't going away anytime soon and I want you guys to be safe when I'm gone. I don't have any other choice."

"THERE IS ALWAYS A CHOICE!" Raph screamed, "You're just too stubborn to realize that."

Leo stayed quiet, he knew Raph was making valid points, but still needed him to know, "Raph," He said softly, "Trust me, you're helping me by leading Don and Mikey. I'm not their leader anymore. So you need to be there for them when it's my time."

Raph coughed again, tears flooding out, "So you expect me to accept the fact that I'm going to loose a brother…right after I lost a father."

Leo felt his heart sink, he took a breath and walked up to Raph, placing a hand on his shoulder, "There's a cure out there Raph." Leo said softly.

Raph gazed up into Leo's eyes, trying to process what he's saying. "That's why you're doing all this?" Raph asked softly.

Leo nodded, telling half of the truth, "Find Leatherhead and get him and Don back on the cure. That's how you can help me." Leo said softly.

Raph shook his head, "And if we don't?"

Leo sighed, "I don't know. Let's hope I find that cure."

The rain continued blazing the ground, Leo looked up and covered his face, "Come on, let's get home." He said. Raph nodded, numb as he walked by Leo's side into the forest.

As they walked, Raph kept trying to accept the fact that his brother was sick and dying, and every time that thought rushed through his head, he couldn't help but tremble in fear. He wrapped his arm around his older brother, just to tell himself that he's still here.

And every time that thought crossed his mind, he would hold him tighter. Leo knew his brother was scared, hell even he was scared. But he wondered what was going to happen now that Raph knows.

"Are you going to tell me to keep quiet?" Raph asked softly.

Leo felt his gut quiver, "What do you mean?"

Raph snickered, "I mean, it's no secret that you kept it from us. But are you going to make me keep it a secret to Don and Mike?"

Leo didn't know, he knew he wanted to, but he also knew it wasn't right to pull Raph into the lie. And April was right, they deserve to know.

"I'll tell them." Leo said, which was true, but he didn't know how to or when.

Raph nodded, "Well you won't be alone."

Leo smiled softly, held Raph tighter and continued their voyage out of the forest, through the thick rain and dark.

….

Once they made it to the lair, they crept inside and saw that it was almost midnight. Mikey and Don were asleep on the couch, Leo could tell that they were trying wait for them, but had fallen asleep.

Leo walked into the kitchen and sat down in a chair, resting his elbow on the table and his head in his hand. Raph came back seconds later with towels, handed Leo one and then began drying himself off. Leo took the towel and wiped his face, leaving everything else wet.

Raph sighed from exhaustion and sat down in the chair next to Leo, stretching his back. "Long day." He said mid yawn.

Leo nodded, he rubbed the back on his head and took a deep breath, "How are you holding up?" He asked. Raph took his towel and covered his damp legs, hoping to warm up a little. "I'm…" Raph grunted, then groaned, "Not so good."

Leo frowned and Raph crossed his arms, "How did you handle it?" Raph asked, "Being leader."

Leo coughed out a laugh, "Truthfully…at first it was the toughest thing I've ever done. But then once I started getting use to the position, it became easy. I mean it's never easy, always worrying about you guys and stuff."

Raph sighed, resting his arms on the table, "But you had Splinter to help you out."

Leo smiled, "Well you have me."

Raph snickered, nodding softly, "Yeah…I guess I do."

Silence erupted between the two brothers. At night, the lair was as quiet, so quiet that you could hear the tiniest snicker from a rat two miles down in the tunnels. But the rats were quiet tonight, giving the lair a eerie silence that made the toughest man cringe.

"I miss him Leo." Raph said, breaking the silence.

Leo inhaled sharply, not knowing why he's feeling his eyes burn. "I do too Raph."

Leo could hear the sadness in Raph's gruff voice, he's really taking this hard. Who wouldn't, losing a father, knowing that your brother is sick and dying, and having the pressure of leading a team by yourself. Raph is in a bad place right now, but Leo knew he could do it. Leo had faith.

"I wish…" Leo exhaled, trying to keep the tears at bay, "I wish I was there."

Raph frowned, "It's not your fault." He said softly, "And he knew how much you loved him…and all of us." Leo's lip trembled as he smiled. Raph stood up and wiped his face, "Alright, I'm going to bed. I need some sleep or I'll just sit here and sulk all night."

Leo smirked, "Yeah, I'm going to bed too."

The brothers said their goodnights as they walked up the stairs and into their own rooms. Leo exhaled deeply, trying to process everything that has happened today. He shook his head and crawled into bed, wondering what will happen tomorrow.

Before he got too deep into the thought, he closed his eyes and drifted into sleep in mere seconds.

…

The sudden break of silence thrashed Leo out of his slumber. He quickly looked around and spotted his shell cell, beeping and flashing. He groaned and he picked it up and flipped it open.

"Hello?" He said as he flopped back into his bed.

"Leonardo, did I wake you?" Karai asked. Leo stretched, "Nope, I'm good." He said.

"Anyway, I got news that Saki has another assignment for you, so expect your pager to go off sometime today." She informed. Leo coughed and rested himself out on his bed, "Thanks Karai, do you know anything about the assignment?" He asked.

"Not too much, all I know is that there shouldn't be an ambush, it is something different." She said.

"Can't wait to see what it is." Leo remarked sarcastically. "I'll call you when I get the notification so you can meet me somewhere."

"Sure thing." Karai said, then hung up the phone. Leo closed his phone and set it on the table, still feeling like he could sleep another four hours. He turned and glanced at the clock.

It was almost noon. Usually he gets notification of an assignment around two. He sighed an forced himself up and out of his bed. The events of last night hammered back in his head.

Raph knows about his cancer, and how long will it be until Mikey and Don know. And what will happen then?

Leo didn't know, he chose to forget about it and go have some breakfast, maybe train a bit before he got the call. He walked out of his room, feeling good. Ever since that serum wore off, and his symptoms died down, he hasn't been feeling that bad. He still feels the occasional headache and chest pain, but not as bad as it was. Maybe that's a good sign.

If Leatherhead were here, Leo would ask him to check again, maybe the cancer died down or something. He didn't want to get his hopes up, but maybe that's the best thing for him right now.

He walked down the stairs and scanned the lair for his brothers, the lair was empty, except for Don, who as in his lab talking to someone on the phone. Leo coughed quietly and went into the kitchen, fetching himself something to eat.

"Ok, thanks a lot Casey." Leo heard Don say, then hang up the phone. Leo put the instant breakfast bowl into the microwave and pressed the two-minute button. As the microwave turned on, Don walked into the kitchen, "Thought I heard someone walk in here." He said, going to the coffee machine and pouring himself some.

"Where is everyone?" Leo asked.

"Well, when Raph woke up, he insisted we start looking for Leatherhead, didn't give a reason why, just suddenly wanted to find him." Don explained, Leo felt a lump in his throat, "So him and Mikey are at his place, looking for any signs or clues. And I'm stuck here making phone calls." Don groaned, sipping his coffee.

"Anything yet?" Leo asked.

Don shook his head, "Not really, April said she would call if she heard anything and Casey said he would help Raph and Mikey look. So I'm guessing we're doing good so far. I mean he should turn up eventually, there isn't a lot of places a giant mutant alligator can go."

Leo nodded and took out his breakfast bowl. "So what about you?" Don asked, "What took you and Raph so long last night?"

Leo grabbed a fork and began eating his breakfast, "Remember that talk you wanted me and Raph to have." Leo nodded.

Don lowered his coffee mug, "And?"

He shrugged, "I think Raph understands, he's just stressed about leading us without Splinter, stuff like that."

Don nodded, "That's good that you got Raph to talk." He said, then went to walk out of the kitchen.

"This morning." Leo said quickly, stopping Don, "Did Raph say anything about last night?"

Don turned and faced Leo, shaking his head, "Not that I know of." He said. Leo nodded, "I'll be in my lab if you need me." He added.

Leo knew he needed to tell Don and Mikey, and maybe separately would be the best way. He looked up and saw Don walk through the main room. He could do it, just say it. Scream it. Something. Don walked into his lab and disappeared from sight. Leo turned toward the counter, cursing himself silently.

Maybe now wasn't the right time.

….

After breakfast, Don took a break from his lab stuff and trained in the dojo with Leo. Mikey and Raph still haven't returned from searching for Leatherhead, but Leo knew they were ok.

"Again?" Leo asked, taking a drink of water.

"Sure, you're down by one." Don informed, then got into position.

Leo smiled as he went to attack Don, for once, he felt good. He could attack and move like he use to without pain or achiness. For once, he felt like himself again. He felt the bond in their family slowly grow back to where it use to be.

The only thing still nagging at his head was Saki. He nervously waited for that damn pager to beep again.

Don went for a kick, but Leo blocked it and sweep kicked him and forced Don to the ground. "You're still trying to get me with that kick?" Leo laughed as he held out a hand. "I'll get you with it one day." Don expressed, grabbing his hand and helping himself up to his feet.

Suddenly, a phone rang. The two of them jerked their head toward the door and looked. Leo felt his heart begin to race in fear that it was Karai. Then Don spoke, "It's mine." He said as he walked out of the dojo.

Again Leo faced himself with this choice. He could tell Don right now, this was the opportunity. But then again, this was the one time in a long time that he has actually laughed and had a good time. But before he could make the decision, Don was already out of the dojo and into his lab, talking on the phone.

"Dammit Leo." He softly muttered to himself, taking a drink of water. Then, he froze as the vibrations from his belt hit his skin. He took a deep breath, grabbed the pager and looked at it.

_New assignment_

He felt sadness and anger infiltrate his heart. He didn't want to leave Don alone, nor did he Raph to come home and see Leo was gone. But Leo really didn't have a choice.

"_THERE IS ALWAYS A CHOICE! You're just too stubborn to realize that_." Raph's voice boomed through Leo's head. He closed his eyes and tried to get rid of the unpleasant thought of his brother yelling at him.

He inhaled, then exhaled, knowing he had to go one way or another. Groaning softly, he grabbed his swords and swung them around his shell, tightened then and stepped out of the dojo.

He peeked into Don's lab and saw him on his computer, focusing on something. "Don," Leo called softly, "I'm going out."

Don turned and faced Leo, "Oh, ok. You need anything?" Don asked, sounding upset.

Leo shook his head, "No, just wanted to let you know."

Don nodded, "Ok…well…call me if you need anything."

Leo smiled, "You got it."

With that, Leo put on his jacket and hat and walked out into the tunnels, leaving Don alone in the lair. He hated it, he didn't know why, but leaving Don alone like that was tougher then he thought. He wanted to go back and be with him, but he knew he had to get this assignment out of the way, then he can come back.

If this assignment doesn't get him killed.

He grabbed his shell cell and dialed Karai's number, she picked up almost instantly. "They notified me, I'm on my way there now. Be waiting for me outside." Leo said quickly.

"Got it." Karai confirmed.

Leo hung up, climbed up the ladder and pushed himself into the streets.

…..

Every foot ninja was on guard when Leo walked in, they remembered his little outburst on the one-foot ninja and truthfully, some of them were scared of him. Instead of one, three now escorted him to Saki's room. He didn't know why, Saki wasn't here, so it made no sense to take the extra precaution.

Once they stepped into Saki's room, Leo saw a foot ninja standing inside, holding the manila folder.

"Really? He couldn't just give it to me himself?" Leo spat.

The foot ninja didn't respond, instead chucked the folder at Leo, "Here's your assignment." He growled. Leo reacted just in time to catch the folder with both hands, he stared in anger at the foot ninja, then opened the folder.

Inside was a picture of a man, a map with an X on it, and a street address with a time. "You will wait for this man at that street corner." The foot ninja said.

Leo looked at the picture of the man, the face was blurry, so he couldn't really get a look at him, "And why am I waiting for him?" Leo asked, closing the folder.

"You'll find that out when you get there." The foot ninja smirked, then walked off. Leo shook his head in disgust and walked out of the room and down the corridor. Something didn't sit right, of course he knew that something was going to happen, but an ambush out in the open like that? It couldn't be.

Then what?

Was there really going to be a guy there?

He pushed the doors open and instantly saw Karai's car parked outside. He walked toward it and got inside. "So, is there another ambush waiting for us that will turn into another tragedy?" Karai asked light heartedly.

"We'll just have to see when we get there." Leo gave a small smile and handed the folder to Karai, "I don't think they're going with an ambush with this one." Leo claimed, "It's out in the open. Even Saki wouldn't attack out in the open in broad daylight."

Karai nodded, "You're right, so what are they planning?" She asked, starting the car and driving toward the marked street corner. "No idea," Leo said, "But keep your guard up."

Karai nodded and focused on the road. Leo leaned back in the chair and sighed, "How long until we get there?" Leo asked.

"Not long." Karai answered simply.

Leo nodded and gazed out the window. He thought about how Don and Mikey would take the news. Raph was upset, even though he tried to hide it. But Don and Mikey wouldn't hide it as much as Raph did, they'll let it all out. And that's what Leo was afraid of, he didn't know what he would do in that situation.

He wasn't really reacting when Raph found out, he just simply stood there. Hell he wouldn't know how Splinter wouldn't have reacted if he found out. Splinter would've most likely acted like Raph, try to show that he was alright, but close to breaking down.

Leo wished he had told Splinter before he passed. He wished for a lot of stuff. Mainly being there.

He needed to stop thinking about that, it will only cause harm. He needed to focus on this assignment and keep his eyes and ears open to any suspicions.

Karai pulled up to the curb and Leo looked at the street name. "This is it." He said softly. "Here," Karai said, handing Leo a walkie talkie, "Hide this microphone under your hat so we can talk to each other." She said. Leo nodded, "Alright, I need you to get to that building." He said, pointing to the building directly across the street, "And get to the roof so you can have a good view of everything. If something happens, use your throwing knife to stop him." He said as he messed with his radio and microphone.

Karai nodded and examined the building. Leo snapped the radio to his belt and got out of the car, "Let me know when you get there." Leo said. Karai nodded and he shut the door and stood awkwardly under the street sign.

He scanned the roads, it was rather empty for being a New York street. It looked like a ghost town. Maybe that's why he arranged the meeting here, so no one could witness. Leo looked around for any signs of an ambush, or anything. But he didn't see any, he felt anxiety bubble up, not knowing what was going to happen.

After a few more minutes of waiting, Leo checked the time on his phone, it was about the time the man should be meeting him.

"Leonardo, I'm in position." Karai said through the radio.

"Good," Leo whispered, trying to make it unknown that he was talking, "Do you see anyone coming?" He asked.

"Not yet, but this is a perfect place for an ambush, there's no one around." Karai exclaimed.

"That's what I was thinking." Leo added as he looked around nervously.

It got quiet again, Leo could hear the horns and typical sounds of the streets off in the distance. "Something doesn't feel right." Karai said.

"You're telling me." Leo said.

Suddenly, Leo felt something in his stomach. It wasn't guilt, or sadness, or anger, but discomfort, like he felt on the spot. He looked around again, trying to spot what was making him feel like this.

"Is everything ok?" Karai asked, noticing his sudden movements.

Then a sound, it wasn't a loud sound, but more like a soft _pop_. Leo froze as he felt everything move in slow motion, he didn't know why, but it felt like instinct took over.

He unsheathed his sword, turned toward the building next to the one Karai was in and swung upward, seeing the bullet that was speeding toward him get cut neatly into two pieces, impacting the ground near him.

Leo had to stop for a moment to realize what just happened. Someone tried to gun him down, just like the survivor. Suddenly, everything came back to him. He looked up at the building and a man on the roof begin to run.

"KARAI! NEXT BUILDING!" Leo screamed into the radio.

Karai jolted from his concentration and glanced at the roof of the building next to hers, seeing a man begin to run. Quickly, she pulled out a throwing knife and launched it at the man. The throwing knife impaled his calf and sent the man crashing to the ground. "I got him." Karai said softly.

…..

Leo and Karai took the man to an abandoned building nearby and sat him down in a chair. Leo sat down in a chair across from him and Karai stood behind Leo. The man groaned as he held his calf, blood surged from the wound and leaked between his fingers.

"Hurts don't it?" Leo asked, crossing his arms.

"You wanna find out?" The man growled.

Leo frowned, "Why are you trying to shoot me? Who set you up to this?"

The man chuckled, "Do you even need to ask that question?" The man asked, "Who else would have set me up to this."

Leo groaned, "Look if I wanted a smart ass remark I would have asked you for one. Now give me a straight answer." Leo threatened.

"Whoa," The man snickered, "Big man think's he's tough. Listen, I've met some pretty intimidating people in my life, and you sir are not one of them."

Leo jumped out of his seat, grabbed the man by the collar and slammed him to the ground, "Listen you piece of shit. I'm not afraid to toss your ass out that window if I had to, not give me answers or I will kill you." Leo growled, blinded by anger.

He suddenly felt a cold chill run down his spine. His eyes widened as he backed away from the man, sitting back in his chair.

"That's more like it." The man said, sitting back in his chair, wiping dirt from his face. "Shredder put me up to this." He said.

Karai glanced down at Leo, wondering if he was going to ask the next question, but he just sat there, staring at the ground. "And do you know where he is?" She asked.

"No one would tell me. But there is one thing I know." The man said, leaning in close, "Saki isn't calling the shots anymore." He said. Karai felt her heart begin to race, "What?"

The man nodded, "Yeah, someone else is commanding Saki, giving him orders. Like that Quinton guy, the survivor or whatever. Saki didn't order me to kill him." He said.

"Then who did?" Karai asked.

The man didn't respond, instead, he stared at Leo, noticing his silence. "What's the matter big guy? Cat got your tongue?" He said, Leo glared up at him, a look of disgust washed on his face, but not toward the man.

"What? I don't get a thanks?" The man smirked, "I just gave away classified information, and I don't even get a thanks." He stood up, crossing his arms, then shrugged, "It's alright though. I wasn't going to let you guys leave alive anyway." He said, pulled out a gun and pointed it at Karai.

Before he pulled the trigger, Leo jumped up, grabbed the man's wrist, twisted it around his back, rammed his head into the man's and slammed him up against the wall. The man laughed as blood rolled down his lip, "There you go." He said, "You gotta be ruthless to get what you want." He chuckled, "Or to protect the ones…you love." He whispered.

Leo clenched his teeth, pulled the man away from the wall and slammed his knee against his stomach. The man stumbled back, leaning up against the glass of the big window.

Everything was going slow for Leo as he lifted his leg and smashed his foot against the man's stomach, sending him through the glass and plummeting four storied to the ground.

Leo's mind processed everything that just he had just done. He fell to his knees, staring in shock at the ground.

"Leonardo? Are you alright?" Karai asked, stunned at what she just saw.

Leo tried his hardest to picture himself doing everything he had just done. But it seemed wrong. Cursing like that, blatantly murdering the man when it wasn't necessary, he didn't know why he did it. It just…happened.

He turned and faced Karai, face pale, tears forming in his eyes, "I…" He stuttered. He didn't know what to say, _who am I? What have I become?_

But truthfully, he didn't know.

He didn't think he knew who he was anymore.


	15. Chapter 15

_**Took longer then i would have liked! But i think you guys are going to like this chapter! All i'll say is going to be insane! **_

_**Well, enjoy!**_

* * *

Chapter 15

"He is still alive." Karai whispered when she glanced down at the man. Leo crossed his arms and sighed, "I know." He said softly, quietly despising himself. "Let's go see if we can get an answer out of him now." He growled, walking out of the room and down the stairs.

His thoughts suddenly clouded with what happened, he couldn't even recall what he was felling while he did it. He didn't remember anything about it, it was as if he was possessed. But he watched what he did, and he felt like hell. This is what he was afraid of, this disease isn't just killing him slowly, it's changing him. Changing him from a once responsible, loyal leader, to a thug who threatens to get what he wants and blows off his family.

Leo felt like he was slowly slipping away from what he uses to be. He couldn't let go, he needed to hold on to everything thing he has left.

Leo and Karai walked out of the building and saw the man lying on broken glass, squirming and coughing blood. Leo frowned, then slowly staggered toward him.

"I know what you're going through." The man said softly, spitting out blood.

Leo kneeled down near him, "What?"

The man laughed painfully, "Your family…you're doing this for your family…" He said, "I know what you're going through."

Leo felt his heart begin to pump, "How exactly?"

The man suddenly frowned, coughing and heaving, "I am too." He said quietly, Leo felt the blood leave his face, leaving his hand cold. "My son…needs surgery for his cancer. Without it…he will die before he becomes a teenager." He said.

Leo covered his face and looked beyond the buildings, listening to the man but not wanting to. "I joined Saki in the hopes that he will provide me with money in order to help my son." He coughed, "But he gave me something better….a cure."

Leo jumped up and stared down at the man, "A cure?" He said loudly.

"Yes, he said he had a friend who knew how to make it. So I told Saki that I would do anything for him for five hundred thousand dollars for the surgery. He said he would throw in the cure as well if I…If I killed you." He stopped, taking a breath as the blood collected beneath him. "But…something happened…and someone stole the…the cure and the money…" He whispered, but before he could continue, his head hit the ground and he went silent. Leo then thought about what he said.

Five hundred thousand dollars.

The cure for cancer.

Someone stealing it.

Then it hit Leo, "Oh my god." He said softly, standing up and backing away from the man. "What is it Leonardo?" Karai asked worriedly.

"The formula for the cure…" He said in a low, raspy voice, "It's in the suitcase."

….

Karai stepped on the accelerator and sped past the red light, Leo felt his heart race even faster as he yelled at Karai to speed up. He hated that he left the man on the street, but he needed to get back to that suitcase. Karai had called the police and informed them of him, but Leo still felt like he could have done something else.

But he wasn't to worried about that, he was worried about the fact that he had been carrying the formula to the cure the whole time, and never realized it. Now he just hoped that Don analyzed it and can make something out of it. The thought of what that man said came to his head, Saki wasn't in charge anymore. If that's so, then who the hell is commanding Saki? And what did he have against Leo?

As all these thoughts clouded Leo's head, he instinctively took out his phone and called Don. But after hearing the dial tone instantly, he felt his heat being to hammer.

"He's not picking up. His phone isn't even ringing." Leo said, knowing something had to be wrong.

"Donatello is alright, by the time the foot realize that he has the suitcase. He would have already conjured up a cure." Karai said.

Something about how she said that made Leo feel uneasy, "Karai…does the foot know where we live?" He asked in a voice that intimidated Karai a bit. She swallowed nervously, "I don't know, it's been a while since i-"

"Answer the damn question!"

Karai froze, trembling as she balanced the steering wheel. She took a deep breath, feeling her insides shudder as she bit her lip, "Yes." She remarked quietly.

There was nothing for a second, both not moving. Karai was tempted to quickly look to see if Leo was all right, but she decided not too. Then suddenly, Karai saw Leo moved quickly in the corner of her eye, then she heard the window shatter into pieces. She yelped in surprise and lost control of the wheel momentarily, then quickly regained control.

She glanced at Leo with eye wide as her heart raced. His fist was clenched, obvious stress all over her face. His knuckles began to bleep from the many cuts in his skin, his face was bland, as if he was done with everything.

"Drive faster." He muttered in a voice so raspy that is sent chills down Karai's spine.

She looked back to the road and sped up, breaking the speed limit. Nothing else was said after Leo's outburst, she kept to herself and drove to the lair. She for once felt fear for Leo, which is ironic. For always trying to strike fear into the turtles, the turtle managed to strike fear into her.

She turned into an alley and stopped the car. Leo got out and slammed the door shut, "Stay here." He commanded through the broken window, then went down the manhole.

Karai covered his face with shaking hands, taking deep breaths. Why did she feel so much fear for him? Or maybe it wasn't fear. Sorrow? Or maybe it was something else.

…

Leo trudged through the tunnels, tears streaming down his face. He wanted to scream, he hated himself. He didn't know what was doing it, or why he was letting himself sink this low, but it was taking over, and is scared Leo to death. He felt like he was hanging on to what sanity he had left. He feared for his life if he ever lost control.

He turned toward the lair and pulled the lever, the doors slide open slowly, when Leo got a look inside. His heart plummeted. His fear had come to life.

The lair was destroyed. Couch ripped with cotton all over the place, tables broken, glass shards everywhere with the TV busted. The bookshelf was on the ground and the books were scattered all over the place.

Blood was splattered on the floors and a bit on the walls. Then he saw five foot ninja's on the ground, dead. A cold sweat fell from his face as tears slid down his cheek, only one thought rushed through his head. Don was alone, and it was because Leo left him.

"Hey Leo!" He heard a strangely cheery, yet rough voice say. He glanced over and saw Don sitting on the couch, bloodied bo staff resting on his shoulders. His shell was cracked and chipped, skin bruised with a bleeding cut on his face, just below his eye.

"Don, what the hell happened?" Leo asked in a frozen shock.

He leaned forward and placed the end of his bo staff on the ground and pushed himself up, "Foot ninja's showed up out of nowhere." He said. Leo looked around at the lair, "And you took them all on by yourself?"

"Had too, didn't really have a choice." He frowned, "I mean some of them got away, but I took care of most of them." He said with a slight grin, "Broke my phone. But other then that, these wounds will heal in time. Plus the scars make me look badass!" He snickered.

Leo felt his heart burn, "Don…I'm so sorry."

Don shook his head, "Not your fault…you didn't know." He said, noticing his brother's grief, "Don't worry about it bro, I can take care of myself." He smiled.

Leo felt a tear roll down his face as he glared up into Don's eyes. Sensing his passive nature coming through. He stared into his brother's eyes and put a hand on his shoulder, "Don…" Leo said softly.

Don's face tightened in confusion, "Leo…you're making a big deal out of this…it's nothing new that the foot ninja's att-"

"I have cancer."

In milliseconds, Don's face fell further then ever. Leo felt his heart tighten as tears begin to slide down Don's face, "What?" He said, lips trembling.

Leo grabbed Don's shoulder, "I'm so sorry." He cried, pulling Don close and hugging him tightly. Don flung both arm around his dying big brother and held him tighter then he ever had, wailing in shock and fear in his shoulder.

"Shhh," Leo whispered, "Don I need you to stay strong for me right now." He said softly. He moved and placed his head on Don's, "Listen to me. You can cure me. You always could have done it." Leo gritted his teeth, "I wish I realized that sooner." He said with a shaky voice.

"The suitcase." Leo continued as Don continued whimpering, "The formula for the cure is inside."

Don tensed up, "They…th-they took it." He said softly.

Leo felt his chest hurt in anger, he clenched his fist and cursed softly. "Ok, here's what your going to do." Leo said, digging into his belt, grabbed his phone and put it in Don's hand. "Call Raph and Mikey, tell them to get to Casey's farmhouse. Tell them what's happened and get yourself patched up." Leo said, then headed for the door.

"What about you?" Don asked, still trying to process everything in his head.

Leo stopped, "There's something I have to do."

"Wait!" Don shouted, "Leo…what's going on!"

Leo took a deep breath, "I'll explain everything at the farmhouse." He said. Don lowered his head, looking down at Leo's phone. Leo sighed, walked back to Don and hugged him, "Don, everything is ok. I'll be fine, I just need you to stay with me. I need you to do this for me!" He said. "I can't do it without you."

Don took a deep, shaky breath. Then nodded, "Ok, you got it."

Leo smiled, "I'll be there as soon as I can."

He patted Don's shoulder and turned around, then stopped again, "Don," He said softly, "Don't tell Mikey…let me tell him." He said.

Don frowned, eyes swollen and red, nodding.

Leo smiled, then turned and walked out of the lair, leaving Don alone once again.

…..

Leo stared out of the window he had broken and thought of Don. He wished he could have told him in a different way, but after what happened, he didn't want what happened to Splinter to happen to one of his brothers. That why he's wishing that he will get out of this unscathed so Mikey can know, and Leo being the one telling him.

Karai seemed distant, Leo wouldn't blame her. His little outburst even scared him. He wished he could apologize, but there's no point. The damage has been done.

"Leonardo," Karai said darkly, "I know that you're stressed and you're going through a lot of shit. But I must know that you trust me. I need to know that we're on the same side here." She said.

Leo took a deep breath, "Of course we are. It's just…this situation is spiraling out of control…and I don't know if I can handle it anymore."

Karai frowned, "Well you don't have to be alone to handle it." She smiled.

Leo nodded, then his face fell serious again at the sight of the foot building. "Pull up right here." He said. Karai stopped the car and the two of them got out, Leo walked up to the door and without hesitation, roundhouse kicked the foot ninja patrolling the door and walked inside.

The alarms went off, Leo turned back to Karai, "Get those alarms shut off." He said. Karai nodded and went down another corridor, Leo turned back to the main one and slid his swords out of their holster.

Two foot ninja's ran into the corridor and charged at Leo. He threw his first sword at the closest one, impaled him in the chest without killing him, then walked up to the next one, pulled his sword out of the foot ninja's chest and swung both swords at the next ninja.

He turned from the bleeding foot ninja and faced the corridor, where he saw about ten foot ninja's running toward him. Leo tightened the grip on his swords and smirked, "If that's how you want it to go down." He growled.

Suddenly, he heard a loud cock behind him and felt a large barrel on the back on his head. He froze, "Drop the swords…now." He heard a gruff voice say behind him.

He cursed under his breath, then dropped the swords. The purple dragon behind him slowly circled around Leo and aimed the barrel of his shotgun at his face. "Try anything, and I will pull the trigger." He said.

Leo didn't say anything, the purple dragon moved out of Leo's way and aimed the shotgun down the corridor, "Move." He said.

With no choice, he marched forward with the barrel aimed at his head. The foot ninja's moved out of the way and Leo glared at them as they passed. Leo hadn't realized that the alarm had been shut off, but where was Karai?

The purple dragon led Leo through the door into Saki's room and stopped him. Standing inside was another foot ninja, the same one that had given Leo his previous assignment. Which seemed like forever ago, when it was the same day.

"Leonardo…" The foot ninja said, "The unstoppable turtle."

Leo smirked slightly, "You sound like your impressed." He remarked.

"Only slightly." The foot ninja said, "But I must say, you have proven it very difficult to kill you. Even with your cancer." He said sharply.

Leo shrugged, "It's not that hard. When it's against you guys, it's like a walk in the park."

The ninja's frowned in anger, then began to pace, "But even you must have a breaking point." He said, "And I think I might just break you turtle."

Leo glanced left, then right, sense the purple dragons get closer with the shotgun. "Well…if you're going to break me. You're going to need something a little more threatening." He said, then sprang to life, grabbed the barrel of the shotgun and threw it up just as the purple dragon pulled the trigger, Leo felt the metal of the barrel scold his hand as the bullet passed. He kicked the purple dragon, pulled the gun out of his hand, twisted it around his fingers and slammed the butt end of it against the purple dragon's head.

Suddenly, everything moved in slow motion, he saw every foot ninja charge at him. And he felt the cold, heavy metal of the shotgun in his hands. He could easily take them all down with one pull of a trigger, but he couldn't. He couldn't bring himself to do it.

He remembered pulling the trigger of the machine gun at the hotel, but that wasn't intended to hit anyone, only scare them off. But with this powerful weapon, he could kill them all.

And that just wasn't him.

He took a deep breath, and dropped the shotgun from his hands. Everything played back in normal motion and the foot ninja's tackled Leo to the ground. A foot ninja's dug his knee into Leo's head and two more slammed their foot onto his arm and pinned him down.

They tied ropes around his wrists and pulled hard, making Leo vulnerable. The foot ninjas backed off, Leo's hands were bound with rope, being pulled harshly by two foot ninja's. His head was lowered, and he fell to his knees.

The foot ninja laughed, "Wow, I didn't think it could be done." He said, walking up to Leo. "The mighty turtle has fallen."

Leo didn't bother talking back at him, he just stayed silent and kept his head down. "Get away from him." Everyone heard a rough and intimidating voice shout. The foot ninja turned and quickly bowed, "Yes master."

Leo's stomach dropped, his eyes widen as he slowly glanced up, seeing Saki standing in front of him. "Miss me?" He said with a sinister smile.

Leo felt anger drown him as he flung himself forward to attack Saki, but the rope pulled him back and made it impossible to go any further. "Do not bother turtle. You're efforts are fruitless." He said.

The door opened behind him, "Master, I found her too." A foot ninja said, then Leo saw Karai be thrown to the ground next to him. "Well, if it isn't the disobedient brat." Saki growled, "Still haven't learned your lesson." He said, grabbing Karai's bicep, "Don't touch her!" Leo screamed. Saki glared at Leo in shock, "Well…it seems the turtle has grown attached to you." He spat at Karai, "Well, if the turtle insists." He said, letting go of Karai. She backed away nervously, then suddenly, Saki threw his foot into her stomach, forcing her to gasp for air on her knees.

Leo lunged himself toward Saki, trying with all his might to strangle him. Saki simply laughed, "Now as my ninja was saying. I do believe you can be broken." He said, then leaned in close to his ear, "And I will be the one breaking you."

Saki leaned back and walked toward the window, looked at his ninja and nodded. The ninja bowed and walked into the room across from Saki's. "Now turtle, there is one thing I want you to know." He said, "Deals changed. I will not harm your brothers. And you have my word. But…you work for me now."

"I thought that was the deal." Leo grunted.

"Allow me to finish." He said, "You will not see your brothers ever again. You will not talk to them, nor will you ever hear about them. And if you do see them, I will send my ninja's at them, and I will finish them."

Leo laughed softly, then progressively got louder, until he started roaring with laughter, "Saki…" He said softly, glaring up at him, "You can go fuck yourself."

Saki's eyes darted at the foot ninja behind Leo, the foot ninja nodded, rose his kendo stick and swung it at the side of Leo's face. Leo's face erupted in a searing pain as his vision went blurry and ears began ringing. He quickly spat out the blood that formed in his mouth and felt the tiny drip sprinkle out of his nose.

"Maybe you didn't hear me the first time." He said.

Leo shook his head, vision slowly coming back to him. When it became clear, he saw Saki walk behind something. Or someone.

"No." Leo said softly, seeing Leatherhead on his knees, large chains around his arms and legs. "Leatherhead!" Leo shouted.

Leatherhead looked up slowly, "Leonardo…I am sorry." He said softly.

"No." Leo pleaded, trying to get out of the rope.

Saki walked behind Leatherhead, "This poor soul had nothing to do with this." He said sinisterly, "He didn't need to be apart of this. But because of you, he's here."

"Don't listen to him Leonardo!" Leatherhead shouted.

"Leatherhead! Come on! Get angry! You can burst out and get us all out of here!" Leo shouted. Leatherhead lowered his head, "Leonardo…do the right thing." He said as a tear formed in his eye.

"To show you how serious I am about this proposal." Saki said, sliding out a sword.

"Leatherhead!" Leo screamed.

"This isn't your fault." Leatherhead said softly. Saki grabbed Leatherhead's chin, forced it up and slid the sharp metal of his sword across Leatherheads throat, drawing gallons of blood as he sliced through Leatherheads thick skin. "NO!" Leo screamed as Saki flung the sword the rest of the way, causing Leatherhead's head to fall forward unnaturally.

Tears cascaded out of Leo's eyes as he watched the blood fall from Leatherhead's throat. Saki strode up to Leo and slid the bloodied sword into his holster, "Now…about my proposal."

"Saki…" Leo said, voice shaky, "Not only am I not going to take your damn deal. I want you to know, you can't touch my brothers." He growled, "You'll need thousands of ninja's to get though my brothers. And after we take care of your ninja's, I will come after you. No matter what I do I will find you…and I will kill you." Leo growled as more tears flooded out of his eyes.

Saki smirked, "Well…lucky for me…I have thousands of ninja's. And they are heading toward your friends farmhouse as we speak."

"NO!" Leo screamed, pulling at the ropes, he clenched his teeth and screamed as he pulled at the ropes, his muscles were forced up against his skin as every little vein bulged out. The rope snapped and he threw his fist into Saki's face, feeling as his fist connected with his skin.

Leo grabbed the broken rope and swung it at the ninja with the other rope, whipping him in the face and freeing his other arm. He grabbed both ropes and swung them at the foot ninja's that charged at him. Karai coughed and held her stomach as she tried to fight, but a foot ninja grabbed her and pinned her to the ground.

"Enough!" Saki shouted, grabbing a shuriken and flung it at Leo.

The shuriken impaled Leo hard, slicing through his mask and causing it to fall to the ground. Leo twitched, then fell to his knee's. Saki grinned as the turtle fell forward and smacked into the ground.

Everyone around stopped around stared, "Did…did you kill him?" A foot ninja asked.

Saki frowned, "No…I threw it hard enough to make him unconscious, not kill him."

"Why not kill him?" He asked.

Saki laughed, "I want to see his face when he knows that his brothers have fallen." He said, "The ninja's are heading to the farmhouse and there is no way the turtles can escape this time." Saki said.

"What about these two?" A foot ninja asked.

Saki frowned in disgust, "Put them in the cells."


	16. Chapter 16

**_This...chapter...is...AWESOME! I just had to say that. Ok, go ahead, read!_**  
**_Enjoy!_**

* * *

Chapter 16

Eyes kept on the ground as he trudged through the forest, heading in the direction of the farmhouse. He felt tears wanting to come out, but for some reason, he couldn't let them. It seemed pointless to cry about it, Leo said himself there was a chance for survival. He wasn't dead yet, so why should he cry about it?

Don kept a firm grip on his bo staff as he stepped over a fallen tree branch, not able to stop worrying about Leo. He was without a phone, no way to contact him. When Don called Raph, he sensed that Raph was scared, when he mentioned Leo not being able to come, Raph seemed terrified, as if he knew what he had to do. But that's impossible.

They were waiting for him at the farmhouse, but Don didn't rush, he knew there was no reason. Unless Leo is at the farmhouse with the rest of them, Don didn't hurry. He wasn't looking forward to facing his brothers and having to tell them what happened.

But then it hit him. Leo told him not to tell Mikey, but he didn't say anything about Raph. Maybe that's what Leo's and Raph's talk was about, but Don didn't understand why Leo didn't tell him sooner. Leo probably had so much on his plate that he didn't want the stress of knowing that they knew to overcomer him. At least…that's what Don hoped the reason was.

The darkness gave Don chills, but the familiarity of the forest made him more at ease, but he still felt his insides quiver at the thought of Leo going off on his own. Don felt like he shouldn't have let him go, like he should have gone with him. He stopped and groaned as he rested his head against his bo staff, feeling guilty for some odd reason.

"Dammit Leo." Don muttered, remembering how much Leo was sick. Don should have known that something more serious was wrong with him. Then he remembered his conversation with LH, the one Mikey claimed to have heard and the one Don overheard on the phone.

Then Don realized why Leo went to LH instead. But what would have happened if he did go to Don? Could Don have stopped it?

He didn't know, but his thoughts faded when he saw the farmhouse through the trees. He sighed softly, picked up his bo and started walking again. But then he stopped, hearing something in the distance. He turned quickly and examined the forest, the sound wasn't normal, it was like twigs and leaves being stepped on.

Don then froze when he saw silhouettes, dozens of them walking toward him. He thought about running the rest of the way, but seeing how close they were, they could easily hear him. Instead, he spotted the nearest tree, jumped, grabbed a branch and swung himself up higher and disappeared in the leaves.

He sat on the branch and glared down, noticing that the silhouettes were foot ninja's, a lot of them. He scurried closer toward the tree and covered his mouth to lessen the sound of his breathing as near hundreds of ninja's passed underneath him, heading in the direction of the farmhouse.

…..

Leo's eye opened tiredly as the pain in his head increased severely. He didn't want to move, but his hand instinctively clenched and reached out. He felt a cold stone wall, then his memory started playing back. He remembered being tied up, watching Saki murder Leatherhead, then after that, nothing.

He groaned and pushed himself up, sitting against the wall, catching his breath, trying to numb the searing pain.

"Thanks god." Leo heard Karai's voice say. He looked and saw her sitting across from him, arms around her knees. He rubbed his head and faced her, "What happened? Where are we?" Leo asked.

Karai rubbed grime off of her face as she pushed her hair out of her eyes, "We're in the basement of the foot building, in the cells."

"Cells?" Leo exhaled, examining the place, "How did we get here?"

Karai glared at him in confusion, "Do you not remember what happened?" She asked. Leo shook his head, "Not a lot."

Karai frowned, "Saki cut your friends throat. Then asked you about his offer again. The offer in which you were not to see your brothers. And you declined, then he told you that he has sent foot ninja's after your brothers in hopes to end them."

"Wait…" Leo interrupted, "Saki…does he…does he know that they're at the farmhouse?" Leo asked in terror. Karai hesitated, then nodded. "No." Leo whispered, covering his face in grief and misery. "Your brothers will be alright Leonardo." Karai said, "They are strong enough to take the ninja's on."

Leo uncovered his face and wiped it, "I know, I'm still worried."

"But that's not all." Karai said, Leo glanced at her in curiosity, "When you found out, you went on a rampage, broke the ropes that they bounded you with and started attacking the foot ninja's. Then Saki…he threw a shuriken at you, hit you in the back of the head."

Leo froze, breath gone shallow as he slowly brought his hand up to the back of his head, feeling the large, swollen gash. "Oh my god." He said softly, "How am I not dead?" He asked.

"Saki said that he threw it with enough force to merely knock you unconscious."

Leo puffed and leaned against the wall, loosing all hope. "I'd rather he just kill me." He breathed out. Karai felt as he heart began to break, "Leonardo, you mustn't talk like that."

"Look at the facts Karai! My brothers are in danger, I have no way of knowing if they're ok. And even if they survive, Saki won't stop and I'll be stuck in here. Leatherhead is dead and it's my fault."

"It is not you're fault." Karai said.

"_This isn't your fault."_

Leatherhead's last words. Leo shook the thought away, "He didn't need to be in this Karai, I made him be apart of this. I could have gone to Don, I could have told him to stop, but I didn't. He's dead…because of me! And now my brother's are going to die because of me!"

Karai threw her hand at him and smacked him hard in the face, "Enough!" She snapped, "Putting all this pressure on yourself and making yourself feel guilty is only making you feel worse! No, it's not your fault! It was Leatherhead's choice to help you and shit happened, alright? Where's the Leonardo that I once knew? Where's the Leonardo who always saw hope in every situation? The one who always had a plan and never backed down or never gave up…on anything…or anyone…including yourself." She muttered.

Leo stopped, eyes glaring in shock at her. She went quite and faced the wall. Leo thought about what she said, knowing in fact that she was right. "One more thing." She said. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out his blue mask and tossed it at him. He let the mask fall limply on the floor, "Thought you would want that back." Karai said.

Leo looked at the mask, torn near the knot and blood stained the fabric. The mask he had always worn, the mask that signified who he was, laid broken and defiled in front of him. Breaking his spirits, making him feel like he will never be the same.

….

Don's mind rushed as he crept out of the tree and looked down below, there were still a whole army of foot ninja's still moving through the woods. He began to panic, quietly moving up another branch, then jumped to another tree, landing gracefully on the branch. He began quietly hopping from tree to tree above the foot ninja's until he stopped at a tree on the edge of the forest, giving Don a clear view of the farmhouse.

The foot ninja's crept out of the forest in large numbers, quickly surrounding the farmhouse. Don knew that Raph and Mike were inside with April and Casey, but did they know that the foot were outside?

On pure instinct, Don pulled out Leo's shell cell and called Raph's number. He instantly heard the shell cell ring from inside the farmhouse. The foot heard as well and froze in place, listening. Don froze as he held the phone against his ear.

"Hello?" Don heard, but couldn't respond.

"Leo? Is this you?" Raph blared, in fear, Don quickly closed the phone and pressed it against his chest. Minutes passed before the foot moved again. Creeping closer to the farmhouse. Don's fear rose as the foot in the front drew their swords.

"Oh Jesus Christ!" Don whispered, heart plummeting as he stared at crowd that circled the farmhouse. He knew that he was too far away to get there before the foot stopped him. And he knew that with the number of foot that surrounded the house, taking them on alone is suicide. But he also knew that his brothers were inside, most likely trapped.

…..

Leo sighed, "Karai." He said softly.

Karai glanced at him.

"I'm sorry." He said softly, "For everything." He stopped, knowing what he wants to say, but not knowing how to say it, "I know I haven't been the easiest person to deal with. But you have to understand everything what's going on. I never meant for any of this to happen. I just wanted my family to be safe from Saki, I didn't want to kill Hun, I didn't want Stockman or Bishop to be killed. Nor did I want to watch Saki murder Leatherhead. I didn't want Donatello to be attacked by himself. I didn't want to lie to my family. But it happened. And I wish I could go back and change it."

Karai frowned slightly, she stood up and knelt down in front of Leo, "But you cannot, this is real. Everything that has happened…has happened, and there's no changing that. And you need to fight to keep everything you have safe. You may have lost Splinter and Leatherhead, and maybe yourself. But your brothers are still alive, and so are your friends. And you need to keep a clear mind to keep them safe. Even though you are not their leader anymore, you have to keep them safe." She said, then picked up the mask and held it out toward him.

"We need the real Leonardo back." She said softly. "I…need you back."

Leo smiled, taking the mask and pushing himself to his feet. He looked down at the torn mask, tied another knot with the two broken ends and slid the mask back on.

"How do we get out of here?" Leo asked.

Karai smiled, "I know how to get out of the building from here, but getting out of the cell will be a little more difficult."

Leo rubbed his chin as he examined the lock, then he looked out through the bars and saw a foot ninja patrolling the exit. "I have an idea." He whispered, "Hey!" He called, "Foot dude! You'd better come see this." Leo shouted.

Karai tensed up when the foot ninja walked from his station and stand at the cell, "What is it?" The ninja asked.

Leo didn't respond, he only struck the foot ninja in the throat through the bars, then grabbed his sword and slid it out of the ninja's holster and into the cell. When the foot ninja hit the floor, he took the sword and gracefully sliced through the rusted cell bars, disconnecting the cell door from the frame.

Leo flicked the sword down, "Shall we?" He said, then stepped through the door.

…..

The first thing Don noticed was Casey, running out of the farmhouse with mask on and hockey stick in hand, he bashed the first few foot ninja's in the head, then took out another hockey stick and began to go ballistic on the ninja's.

Two ran up to him with swords at the ready, he took his hockey stick, stuck it between one of their legs and swung upward, smashing it into his groin as he took the other and bashed the other ninja in the knee, breaking it with ease. Another ran up to him and sliced his arm, he jumped back and growled in anger, then holstered both hockey sticks and slid out two steel baseball bats.

A sinister grin grew on his face as the same foot ninja went to slice him again, but Casey hit the sword away with the bat and rammed the end of the other one into the foot ninja's nose, forcing him to the ground.

Don noticed a foot ninja creep behind him, slowly go for the back stab. But before Don could scream, a nun chuck was wrapped around the neck of the ninja and he was forced to the ground.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you to look behind you when fighting ninja's?" Mikey joked at Casey.

"Yeah yeah," Casey droned, "Thanks for that."

Mikey then twirled his nun chucks and looked around as seven foot ninja's surrounded him, "Hmm, which one of you want's to go first?" He asked. "Eenie…meenie…minee…" A foot ninja shouted something and went for the attack. "Mo!" Mikey shouted as he gripped his nun chuck and swung it at the ninja, striking him in the face. The rest attacked at once and Mikey lunged forward, did a handstand and kicked every ninja that came to him.

Don smirked, then looked down, seeing more and more foot ninja's walk out of the forest. He stood on the branch, gripped his bo and jumped off, raising his bo staff in the air and swung it down as he hit the ground, bashing it into the skull of a foot ninja. Then he stood up and twirled it around his fingers and smacked two more in the jaw and rammed the other end into a foot ninja's chest.

He held his bo as nine foot ninja's surrounded him, he smirked, lunged his bo staff into the ground, grabbed it with both hands and spun himself around the staff, kicking every foot ninja that was in his way.

"And who says mimicking movies is a bad thing!" He said to himself as he continued swinging himself around the bo staff and launching the foot into the air. He stepped back on the ground, pulled the staff out of the ground and struck a foot ninja in the side of the face, then twirled it around his fingers, smacked another foot ninja, twirled it through his fingers and smacked another.

He glanced over at the farmhouse and saw Casey and Mikey taking care of business. But where were Raph and April? Don cursed softly, then dashed full speed toward Mike and Casey, twirling his bo staff and hitting foot ninja's as he ran toward the farmhouse.

….

Leo kept the sword tight in hand as he followed Karai through the basement of the foot building. "Alright," Karai said, "They are still unaware of our escape. We just need to stay quiet and we can escape without a trace." She whispered.

Leo nodded, "Lead the way, you know this place better then I do."

Karai stopped, peeking around a corner to see if the coast was clear. She waved her hand and snuck forward. "How exactly are we going to get out of here?" Leo asked.

"This basement leads to the garage, we can get into a foot car and drive out of here and get to the farmhouse." Karai explained, picking up her pace.

They turned a corner and froze when they saw a purple dragon walking down the corridor. The purple dragon stopped, "THEY ESCAPED!" He screamed and pointed the barrel of his pistol at him.

Instinct took over as Leo grabbed Karai and turned and wrapped his arms around her. The purple dragons pulled the trigger and the bullet impacted Leo's shell, causing him to jerk forward massively. He grabbed a throwing knife that Karai had taken off of the foot ninja and launched it at the purple dragon, impaling him in the neck.

The dragon hit the ground and Karai caught her breath, trying to process what happened, "Leonardo…they know we're out." She said nervously.

"Then lets get going!" He shouted, they both took off in a sprint down the corridors. Karai turned left into another corridor and continued sprinting. "If the foot know of our escape, then we must hurry before they close and lock all security doors!" She said.

"You guys can do that?" Leo asked in shock, "Jeez, Saki's pretty paranoid!"

"You don't know half of it!" Karai remarked.

They turned down another corridor that led to a door, Karai quickly went to open it, but couldn't turn the doorknob. "Shit! He's locked it!" Karai shouted.

"Dammit!" Leo exhaled.

Karai caught her breath, "Alright…I have another idea." She said.

"I'm listening."

Karai looked around, "We have to go topside."

Leo groaned, "I don't like this idea."

"We have no choice!" Karai said as she turned back and broke out into a sprint. Leo sighed and followed.

…..

Don jumped up in the air and kicked a foot ninja in the back, sending him to the ground. He landed next to Mikey and started fighting the incoming the ninjas.

"Great timing!" Mikey said as he wrapped his nun chuck around a foot ninja's neck and pulled him in for a head-butt. Don shrugged, "I've been a little tied up." He said.

"Hey hey!" Casey shouted, "There you are Donnie! Thought you would miss the fun!" He snickered.

"Not for the world!" Don said, punched a foot ninja in the face and turned to Mikey, "Where is Raph and April."

Mikey jumped up and kicked two incoming ninja's and swung his nun chuck at another. "Last time I saw them they were still inside!" He said, glancing up at the flaming farmhouse. "I don't know if they got out!"

Suddenly, a window shattered to pieces above them, they looked up and saw Raph diving out of a window on the second story, diving down and land on a foot ninja. "Nice entrance!" Mikey shouted.

"I'd give it a ten!" Casey added.

Raph grinned, grabbed a foot ninja, held him above his head and threw him at a crowd of about ten foot ninja's, pushing them all to the ground. He twirled his sais through his fingers, chucked it at a foot ninja and impaled him in the stomach, pulled it out and drop kicked the foot ninja into two more that were running toward him.

"Nice of you to join us Don!" Raph blurted, body slamming a foot ninja. "Don't mention it." Don said quickly. Raph grinned largely as he grabbed the back of a foot ninja's head and rammed it into his own head, then jumped up and slammed his knee into his chin.

Casey rammed the butt end of his bat into a foot ninja's throat and roundhouse kicked him, "Anyone seen April?" He asked out loud.

"Nope." Raph grunted.

"Nada." Mikey replied.

"No sir." Don said.

Casey sighed, then looked back at the farmhouse and realized April wasn't inside. "Dude! Where did she go?" Casey asked.

All of a sudden, the sound of an engine roared through the field, the turtles and Casey stopped and saw the battle shell turn on and speed forward, running down hundred of foot ninja's in seconds. They stared in shock, "Damn!" Casey shouted, "That's harsh!"

The battle shell skidded to a stop in front of them, "Hey! They snuck up on us, attacking with our backs turned." She said, "They deserve everything they get." She stepped on the accelerator and sped around the field, running over more and more foot ninja's.

….

Karai stopped at the door after climbing two flights of stairs, "Ok…they're most likely going to be out there." She whispered, "You ready?"

Leo gripped the sword he had stolen from the foot ninja and nodded. Karai took a deep breath, grabbed the doorknob and twisted. Upon opening, three foot ninja's attacked, she closed the door quickly, then kicked it open, hitting two of the foot ninja's with the door and kicked the last in the groin.

Leo jumped out of the staircase and swung his fist at an incoming foot ninja and slashed another's chest. Karai jumped on the back of a foot ninja and kicked him at Leo, flipping backward and landing on her knee's on another foot ninja's shoulders, jerking his head to the left and cracking the neck.

Leo impaled the foot ninja that Karai had kicked at him in the gut, twirl him around and kick him at two incoming foot ninja's. "Leonardo! We need to go!" Karai screamed.

"Right behind you!" Leo shouted, he impaled two more foot ninja's before feeling a hand grab his shoulder.

"I've had enough," He heard a gruff voice shout behind him, then the hand turned him around and he saw Saki, "Of your BULLSHIT!" He screamed, taking the knife in his hand and thrusting it deep into Leo's stomach.

Leo's body stopped working, the sword slipped out of his grip and he was forced to grab onto Saki for support. Saki looked down into Leo's suffering face and smiled, "Not so immortal now, are you turtle?" He growled, then twisted the knife.

Leo's eyes jerked open as he tried to breath, hand clenched around Saki's bicep. "After all these years." Saki grunted through closed teeth, pulling Leo close until Leo could feel Saki's breath. "I've…finally…won."

He yanked the knife out of Leo's stomach and pushed him to the ground. Karai kicked a foot ninja out of the way and glanced back, seeing Saki holding a bloodied knife and Leo on the ground. "NO!" She screamed, grabbing a foot ninja's head and throwing it down on his knee. She then slid the foot ninja's sword from his holster and launched it at Saki, the blade grazed Saki's face and speared though the wall. Saki jerked back and held his face, Karai ran up, jump kicked an incoming foot ninja while taking smoke pellets from his belt, kicked Saki and landed on the ground next to Leo.

Saki stepped back and watched Karai throw down the smoke pellets. Suddenly, the whole corridor was engulfed with smoke. In anger, Saki furiously waved his hands through the smoke, "No!" He shouted.

After a few seconds, the smoke faded, and Karai and Leo were gone. Saki growled, then smashed his fist into the wall, breaking the bricks and causing the whole wall to crack. "Find them! And kill them!"

…

As the foot ninja's number slowly staggered, April stopped the battle shell, got out and joined the fight. Mikey lunged forward on his hands, grabbed a foot ninja's head with his feet, flipped him forward and Casey smacked him in the head with his bat.

"Don!" Raph shouted and jumped at Don. Don twirled his bo staff and slammed it against four foot ninja's with one swing and held the bo up. Raph came down, grabbed the bo and Don spun around, spinning Raph and knocking down several foot ninja's in seconds.

Suddenly, all the foot ninja's stopped fighting, turned around and retreated. Mikey froze, not knowing what to think, "Did someone say the magic word?" He asked.

"What the hell?" Casey asked, resting the baseball bat on his shoulder and watching the foot ninjas run back into the woods. Don caught his breath and stood by Raph and Mikey, holding a swollen, growing bump on his shoulder.

"You alright bro?" Raph asked, noticeably injured. Don nodded, "I'll be fine." He said, smiling softly.

"You guys know what this means right?" Casey said, moving in front of the turtles. "Foot ninja's attack the lair…then the farmhouse." He adds, "We've started a war."

"A war they started." April stated, crossing her arms.

"And a war we've going to finish." Raph grunted with a smile.

"And win!" Mikey added.

Don felt something linger in his stomach, like a mixture of fear and denial. He knew that the foot ninja's weren't going to let up, and it would be almost a thousand foot ninja's versus four turtles and two people. There odds weren't the best, and he knew everyone else knew that, but masked it with pride.

Don frowned, then jerked up when something caught his eye. He looked out into the forest, squinted in the dark, then felt his heart drop as his eyes widened. Casey noticed his sudden shock, "What is it Donnie?" He asked, following his gaze. Raph, Mikey and April looked as well, and they all saw the same thing.

Karai walking out of the forest, Leo in arms.


	17. Chapter 17

_**Don't worry guys. I ain't dead yet. I'm still here! Just been focusing on my novel for awhile. And you can bet that next chapter...is going to be a big one. And i mean...a big one.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

* * *

Chapter 17

Karai sat in the chair in the living room, slightly nervous. She peeked into the room where Leo was in with Don and April looking him over. Raph stood outside of the room, glaring back and forth at Karai.

"So," Mikey blared, sitting on the couch across from Karai, "You've finally joined the good side have you?"

"No!" Raph growled before Karai could talk. Karai frowned, then lowered her head and kept quiet. Don stepped out of the room and sighed, "So? How is he?" Raph asked.

Don rubbed his hands with a cloth, "He'll be fine. No major artery was hit, he's unconscious now. But he's lucky to be alive!" He said. April stepped out with Don and Raph sighed in relief, "Thank god." He said, then glared at Karai.

Karai didn't look, but could tell that every eye was on her. "Everyone in the guest room." Raph commanded, then pointed at Karai, "You don't move." He growled. Karai frowned in humiliation and crossed her arms, sighing as everyone gathered in the room where Leo was in. Raph shut the door, leaving Karai alone.

She felt out of place, she knew no one liked her in the farmhouse, but still, she knew she had to come here. By the looks of it, they took one hell of a beating from the foot ninja's, but survived. Karai was impressed, she knew the turtles could handle themselves, but she never realized how tough they were to beat.

The silence inside the farmhouse made Karai feel uneasy, hell being inside the farmhouse made her feel uneasy. She shifted awkwardly in the chair and looked around, seeing pictures of the turtles with the other two. She stopped and stared at one, showing the four of them with their father. Karai frowned, remembering a time when she was against the turtles. She never stop and thought about the turtles and their life.

They had a family they were fighting for, and they were constantly hiding from the humans, and Saki attacked them out of selfishness. It wasn't fair, the turtles had so much to deal with, and they dealt with it. No wonder Leo almost had a mental breakdown when he did. He puts so much stress on himself, even though he is no longer the leader, he still acts like one.

….

Raph closed the door and crossed his arms, "What do you guys think?"

"Well…obviously her and Leo have been doing something together for awhile." April claimed, "It isn't like Karai to carry her wounded enemy like that, even crossing enemy lines."

"I agree," Casey stated, "But why is she doing this? Did she suddenly realize that her father is a jackass?"

Don rubbed his chin, "I don't know…but Leo definitely trusted her. So I think we should give her a chance."

Raph frowned, "Guys, don't forget the past. She's proven herself difficult to trust." He informed.

"Yeah, and no one knew that more then Leo." Don countered.

"The thing I'm confused about," Mikey interrupted, "Is why is she even here at all? Why is Leo teaming up with her in the first place?"

Raph tensed, shaking slightly, "I don't know." He lied.

"I think," Don said quickly, as if trying to change the subject, "We should give her a chance, ask her a few question. Ask her why the foot attacked, what happened to Leo and all the stuff." He said.

April and Casey nodded, Raph sighed, "Alright." He said.

April, Casey, and Mikey walked out of the room, Don stopped Raph from walking out and closed the door. "You know?" Don asked.

"Know what?"

Don groaned, tilting his head at Leo. The color faded from Raph's face, "Yeah…" He said. Don puffed, crossing his arms as he leaned on the wall. "When did you find out?" Raph asked.

Don tried his best to keep unwanted tears in as he exhaled, "He told me when he came back after the foot attacked the lair." Don said. Raph chuckled darkly, looking at Leo, "Mikey still doesn't know does he?" Don asked.

Raph shook his head. "Leo said not to tell him," Don said, "Leo wants to tell him."

Raph groaned and wiped his face, "I don't understand…" He said.

Don faced him, "What?"

Raph crossed is arms, "Why kept it from us."

Don sighed, rubbing his head, "I kind of understand," He said, "I mean…it's not hard to see that he's gotten himself in some pretty big trouble. And with us knowing, we would have kept badgering him, telling him going out is a bad idea, telling him he needs to rest." Don said, "But still…he shouldn't of kept it from us."

Raph nodded, wiping his face.

"And I guess if he hadn't have been going out all those times, he wouldn't have known that there was a cure." Raph said.

"Exactly."

"So lets just stick with that thought." Raph finished, walking out of the room. Don sighed, giving Leo one last glance, and then followed Raph.

"You guys ok?" April asked.

Raph nodded, "Yeah." He said, glancing at Mikey. He could tell that Mikey felt out of the circle, but it was for his own good. Raph took a deep breath and looked around the room, Mikey and Casey were on the couch, April leaning on the wall near Karai and Don and Raph standing near the door.  
"Alright Karai," Raph said quickly, "You're going to answer some questions." He said.

Karai nodded.

Raph started to pace, "First, what happened to Leo?"

Karai rested her leg on her knee and took a breath, trying to explain without giving out too much information, "Leonardo and I were put in cells at the foot building. And when we tried to escape, Saki…" She stopped, looking at the door, "I think you know the rest."

"And how did you get here?" Don asked.

"I drove to the edge of the forest and walked the rest of the way." She answered.

"And how did you know where the farmhouse was?" Casey questioned.

"The foot have always known where the farmhouse was located, but always thought of it as non threatening."

"Well that answers the question about how the foot knew where it was." Don groaned.

"Speaking of that…why is the foot attacking us? Why did they attack the lair?" Raph asked.

Karai frowned, "I…" She said, not knowing how to approach an answer, "The attack on the lair was to get the suitcase back." She answered, "This attack was…well…he was determined on destroying you three." She said.

Raph puffed as Don rubbed his head, "About this suitcase…why is it so important?" Raph asked. Don's heart sank as he saw Karai about to answer, then looked up at Mikey. "Wait!" Don shouted. Everyone stopped and stared at him, "That question isn't important." He said quickly, glancing at Raph quickly, who was giving him a confused, slightly irritated look.

"Karai, I think the real question here is why are you helping Leo?" Don asked.

Karai lowered her head, "Because…Saki has showed me that I can easily be sacrificed in his eyes." She said.

"Are you kidding?" Mikey said, "You're his daughter? Aren't you like…his heir or something?"

"Lately, his desire to get rid you the four of you has overpowered his care for me." She said.

"How do you know?" Don asked.

"Because I almost died protecting Leonardo…at Saki's hands even." She said.

Everyone was silent, no one knew what to say. "Look," Karai said, "It is not my business to tell you anymore, you need to hear it from Leonardo. Because what I will tell you, is that everything he's doing. Is for you three."

Raph felt guilt strike his heart, groaning as he covered his face.

"What about Leatherhead?" Mikey asked. Karai felt her heart sink to her stomach, "Do you know where he is?" He continued.

Karai swallowed hard, feeling her heart race. "Your friend…" She started as her legs began to shake, she exhaled as she pushed her hair out of her face, "Your friend…is dead." She muttered.

There was a terrible silence throughout the farmhouse, everyone in too much shock to speak. "Saki murdered him." Karai continued, "Right in front of Leonardo and I."

"Enough." Raph snapped quickly, looking out the window, trying to keep his eyes from watering.

"I'm sorry." She said softly.

Raph pressed his fingered against his eyelids, nodding his head as he slammed his hand against Leo's door, causing it to swing open as he walked inside.  
"Come on, let me go bandage those cuts." April told Casey, then they disappeared into the kitchen.

Don groaned, inhaling deeply as he staggered up the stairs. Mikey rubbed his lips nervously, watching Don walk up the stairs. He jumped off the couch and quietly followed him. When Don walked into a room, he swung the door shut, but Mikey kicked the door, forcing it to slam into the wall.

Don jumped massively and turned, "Mikey what the hell?" He shouted.

"I don't know what you and Raph are doing, but I'm sick of being the third wheel!" He shouted. Don glared at him in shock, "Mikey what are you talking about?"

"I have…no idea what Karai is doing here. I have no idea what she's talking about, but you too clearly seem to have an idea. And for some reason are not telling me. I don't know why, but I'm getting pretty sick of being ignored. What is Leo doing? Why is Karai here? What happened to Leatherhead? And why am I the last to know?"

Don felt his heart crumble as he clenched his fist, "Mikey…listen-"

"Don't feed me anymore bullshit!" Mikey snapped.

Don jerked back, heart racing and skin cold. He couldn't even find the words after that outburst. He lowered his hand and sighed, "I can't say anything." Don said softly, "You need to hear it from Leo."

Mikey exhaled out loud in anger, "Forget it." He said, then walked out of the room. Don rubbed his head, then rammed his foot into the dresser in anger and sat down on the bed, wanting to stop feeling all this stress.

…

Karai couldn't take anymore, she stood up and walked to Leo's door, twisting the knob slightly and opened the door slowly. She instantly saw Raph standing at the window, he turned suddenly and glared at Karai, "Get out!" He growled.

"Calm down, I don't have any plans on finishing him off in his sleep." She retorted.

"I don't care, get out."

Karai shot him a dirty look, "I'm the one who saved his life, If it weren't for me, he wouldn't be here." She hissed. Raph frowned, cursing her in his head, then turned back to the window.

She glared at him in anger as she crept her way toward Leonardo, taking a seat next to him, studying the lifeless look on his face. The stab wound in his gut was wrapped neatly with gauze, it was a miracle he was still alive. Karai was slightly fearful at how Saki will take the news that not only Leo is not dead, but the others are still alive as well.

He will go berserk, probably come here himself to finish everything off. He will certainly attack again, probably sooner then they think, and this time, he won't hold back.

Karai knew him, she knew how he plays, and she had to warn them.

"He did this for you guys." She said softly, Raph didn't stir. "I don't think you realize this. He sacrificed…everything…for you three."

Raph gritted his teeth behind his lips, clenching his fists, "Just shut the hell up." He growled.

Karai's face hardened with hate, she stood up and went to walk out, but stopped. Raph tensed when she turned back to Leo, he faced her and watched as she crept up to him. Karai reached out and touched his face, then stopped when she saw Raph jerk forward.

Taking a deep breath, she grabbed Leo's head and turned it toward her, revealing the large, swollen gash on the back of his head to Raph, "You'd better get your brother to wrap this one as well, before it gets infected." She said.

Raph stared at the gash, then watched as Karai nodded her head and exited the room. He stood there, unable to think. He took a deep breath, walked up to the bed and dropped the sai he had clenched in his hand on the table.

"Dammit Leo." He growled softly, sitting on the bed next to him, holding his head in his hands.

…..

After an hour of nothing, Don went outside for some fresh air. He had wrapped Leo's head already, but he still doesn't seem to be coming out of it. Don knew that Leo was fine, he just needed rest, but for some reason, he felt uneasy every minute Leo was unconscious.

A door opened behind him, he turned and saw Karai step out with a look of fear and loneliness on her face. Don sighed, "Listen," He said, "I realize that you haven't been our favorite person in a long time. But I'm also not stupid," He said, turning and facing her, "I know the Shredder is up to something. And if Leo trusted you…then I think we can bury the hatchet." Don said.

Karai smiled, nodding her head. "Listen Donatello. I came to talk to you…well simply…you're the only one that will listen."

Don frowned and listened with curiosity. "You don't understand the danger you guys are in." Karai continued, "Saki knows where this place is and once he knows that his attack was unsuccessful. He will attack again, but in greater numbers."

Don rubbed his chin, obviously unsettled, "What do suggest we do?"

Karai stroked her hair, frowning, "I have no idea."

"Leo?" They both heard Raph shout, they looked at the door just in time to see Raph kick the door open. "Where the hell is Leo!" He shouted.

Don glanced at Karai, then back at Raph, "What are you talking about?"

"Leo is gone!" He screamed.

…

With his swords gripped tightly in his hands, and the rain coming down with a violent force, Leo stood in front of the foot building, glaring in hate, knowing what laid inside. And he knew that this was it. He was going to finish this, tonight. If he failed, then all hope for his family is lost.


	18. Chapter 18

_**This chapter is...shocking. That's all i have to say. And like i said before, if this were a TV show, this would be another season finale. I'm still trying to cope after this. Whew! **_

_**Prepare yourself for this chapter.**_

_**It's definitely a big one. **_

_**Enjoy! **_

* * *

Chapter 18

"It's raining again?" The foot ninja asked himself as he stood guard at the entrance. He sighed softly and scanned the horizon, looking for anything out of the ordinary, which he doubted. The turtle was dead, no doubt about it. Saki stabbed him in the gut, even though Saki does not believe it.

He believed that Saki has indeed gone crazy with power and the urge to kill the turtles. But the ninja had to give the turtle props, surviving an attack like that is impressive.

Suddenly, the ninja felt sharp metal touch his throat, he froze. "Open the door." He heard a raspy voice growl, he expected it to be the red masked turtle, the one they call Raphael. But when he turned, his jaw dropped upon seeing the blue masked turtle behind him, face distant, eyes of a killer.

"But…you're dead." The ninja gasped.

Leo grabbed the ninja's neck and forced him against the wall, placing the tip of his sword against the man's throat, "Open the door…now." He growled.

The ninja squirmed, trying to breath, "And why would I help you?" He coughed, trying to peel the turtle's hand from around his neck. Leo's lip twitched as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a wallet, the ninja's wallet. Before he had a chance to grab it, Leo let the wallet open, revealing a picture. "That's a beautiful family you have." He said sinisterly, "Would be a shame if your children had to be raised without a father."

The ninja felt his stomach drop as he stared at the picture of his family, "Please…" He exhaled.

Leo leaned forward, inches from the ninja's face, "Then open…the door." He said, letting go of the ninja. The ninja quickly recovered and rushed to the door, unlocking the latch and pulling it open slightly. Leo kicked the foot ninja out of the way and walked to the door.

"Go home. Stay with your family." Leo said softly, and then entered the building.

Complete numbness filled Leo, as if he weren't in control of his emotions or actions. Saki attacked his brothers ruthlessly, even after Leo pleaded for immunity.

Leo knew it was bound to happen, but now that it has, Leo's fury overcame his righteousness and honor. Once inside, he looked around at the empty corridors, wondering if he should sound the alarm and go in with force, or sneak to Saki and finish him silently.

Both options could go wrong. But he decided to not sound the alarm, or go in with stealth. He simply charged forward toward Saki. With swords gripped in hands, he spotted a foot ninja walking normally through the corridor, unaware of Leo's intrusion. Leo flipped his sword around and launched it at the ninja, watching it soar though the air and impaling the ninja in the back of the head.

The thud that sounded as the body must have caught the attention of some foot ninjas. After a second, three foot ninja's walked out to investigate the noise, quickly drawing their weapons at the sight of Leo.

He grabbed two shurikens and flung them, striking one of the foot ninja's in between the eyes as he got the other one in the throat. With one still standing, Leo swung his sword at him, cutting his stomach as he reached, plucked his other sword out of the ninja's head and slashing the standing ninja in the chest, opening up a fresh wound and allowing tons of blood to pour out.

Once all foot ninja's had fallen, Leo flicked his swords and watched the blood fly off the blade and onto the floor. The corridors grew quiet once Leo turned down a new corridor to find it empty, which made him feel uneasy.

He stopped, glaring at the door at the end of the corridor, knowing that Saki was inside. But something felt off in his gut, he knew that he didn't sound the alarm, nor did they know he was coming, but Leo felt as if there should have been more foot ninja's.

The wound on his stomach ached with a dull pain, making it a bit difficult to breath. He held it as he cringed, clenching his teeth, waiting for the surge of pain to fade away.

He told himself that he should stop now, go home and try to rebuild his life. But then the thought hit him, he had plenty of chances to die. Hun could have easily killed him, he could have died at the purple dragon hideout, could have been shot at the hotel, even when Saki stabbed him, he didn't die. Hell the cancer could have ended him at any moment. But he's still breathing, so part of him thinks that he's alive for some reason. And the only reason he could think of.

Finally killing that son of a bitch Saki.

Confidence filled him as he charged forward, expecting foot ninja's to attack as me moved. But none came, even as he put his hand on the door, no one was around.

He took a deep breath, resisting the urge to turn back as he pushed the doors open, instantly wishing he had turned back.

There were roughly fifty or sixty foot ninja's standing in Saki's room, each one with their weapons in their hands. "Well well well…it seems every time you have a chance to get away." A dark, raspy voice said, "You keep coming back."

Saki was standing behind his army of foot ninja's. Leo growled as he tightened the grip on his swords, "So now you're hiding behind your ninjas…like a coward."

Saki chuckled a hallow laugh, "Turtle…you just don't understand." He said softly.

"No…I understand perfectly. You know that if you fight me yourself, you'll lose. Come on, get down here and fight me like a man!" Leo screamed.

Saki's grin turned into a focused frown, "Here's the thing little turtle." He said with a sinister smirk, "I don't want to fight you." He said.

Suddenly, Leo felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, jerked forward and noticed the foot ninja behind him holding a syringe. He felt anger boil inside as he turned back to Saki, feeling his limbs grow weak. He tried to scream at him, yell out obscenities at him, but as his energy faded. His body hit the ground as he watched Saki step out of the crowd and toward him.

"Put him in the holding room."

…

Leo stared into the darkness, hands bound at each corner of the table, feet dangling. He was flat against a steel table that faced the door with his hands tied. He had wakened up a few minutes ago, and hasn't moved since.

The silence lasted for another few minutes before the door opened and Saki stepped into the room, smile growing on his face, "Good, you have waken up." He exhaled, shutting the door and stepping closer to Leo.

Leo glared up at Saki in hate, wanting to get out of the restraints and chock him. But he knew it was hopeless, he was defeated. "Why didn't you just kill me?" Leo asked in a soft whisper.

Saki chuckled with a hallow throat, dragging a seat from the corner and moving it in front of Leo. "I don't wish to kill you." He said simply.

"You seemed very eager to kill me with those missions."

He held a hand up to stop Leo, "I admit, I was a little angry and blinded. But after you escaped, and after the foots failure with your brothers. It got me thinking. I don't want to kill you." He said, but shrugged, "But you don't want to join me."

Then Saki glared down into Leo's eyes, smiling softly, "So It looks like I'm going to have to force you." Leo's heard sunk as he tried to pull out of his restraints. Saki chuckled darkly, and then leaned back in his seat, "Do you know why I chose you over your brothers?" Saki asked, crossing his arms.

"Because I'm the one that's dying? Because I came to you for help? Because I was stupid and thought I could trust you?" Leo shouted. Saki closed his eyes, ignoring Leo, "Because I see a lot of me in you."

Leo felt his stomach explode, wanting to shout at him but not being able to gather the words.

"Michelangelo is a good warrior, very agile, but…his downfall is that he focuses to much on fun. He's reckless, too much of a liability. Donatello, he's smart, but not enough of a warrior to live up to me. And Raphael, He's loyal, strong…but short tempered, that would prove to be an obstacle." He finished, "But you Leonardo, you are the perfect warrior, the perfect leader. As am I. You and me…we were born to fight together. Fight by my side, and together we could command the foot."

Leo glared at Saki, taking in everything he said, took a deep breath, and then spat in his face. Saki's eyes snapped shut on impacted, he sighed and wiped it away.

"You insult my brothers, attack them with their backs turned and you think I will look past that and join you. If you think I will join you because you think you have a special button that whenever you push it, my brothers die. But you're wrong. My brothers are stronger then any of your foot ninjas, you can keep sending foot their way, but they will defeat them." Leo growled, breathing heavily, "You will never touch my brothers, you will never win. And when I get out of there, I'm going to take my sword, and shove it so far up your ass that you will be tasting my metal when your rotting in your coffin."

Saki didn't respond, stood up and walked to the door, emotionless. After opening the door, he turned and faces Leo, "You and your brothers fight for honor, for righteousness, but you don't realize, you have no honor." He spat, "You murdered Hun, caused the death of Stockman, you brought Bishop and Leatherhead into this, which caused them to perish. You killed them turtle." He said, charging at him, wrapping his fingers around Leo's mask and tore it off his face. "You don't deserve to wear this. Your master gave this to you as a pledge of honor, and disgraced it." He growled, stuffing the mask in his pocket, smirking softly, "You think you're some kind of hero, relying on your brothers and my daughter. But you're wrong, you're just a small turtle that I could crush at any moment. As are your brothers. My foot ninja's will attack, and they will kill your brothers. And then they do, I will bring back their masks…hell…maybe even their heads." Saki said, then turned and shut the door.

…

It was so quiet that Leo thought for once he heard his own insides working to keep him alive. It didn't bother him much, but Saki's words were drilling inside his head.

"I see a lot of me in you."

Leo was nothing like Saki is. Saki is a thug and a murderer. But the more he thought about it, Leo was a murderer, he murdered Hun in cold blood. He could say it was for self-defense, but he was the one that broke in. Hun was fighting for self-defense, Leo's intentions was to harm.

But that doesn't make him anything like Saki. At least…he hoped not.

He strained his muscles and stretched his aching shoulders, then slouched back down, hanging from his arms.

Suddenly, the door swung open and a wounded foot ninja staggered inside, breathing heavily. He slammed the door shut and turned toward Leo, "They're coming." He whispered, then looked around quickly.

"What?" Leo questioned.

"Master says to stay with you, keep an eye on you. But as I'm looking at you," The foot ninja started, slowly striding toward Leo, "I just want to rip you open and see what makes you different." He said, jerking a knife out of his belt, "But that would be too quick for you." He said, rubbing the tip of the blade against Leo's cheek. "You don't know how long I've waited to do this." He said with a grisly smile.

"Just…calm down." Leo pleaded.

The foot ninja lunged forward and the blade slipped inside Leo's right eye, causing a massive roar of agonizing pain that engulfed his head. The foot ninja slid the blade out and wiped it on his uniform, "Let's keep this up shall we? I want to know what makes you scream." He growled.

Tears streamed down Leo's left eye and blood streamed down the other side as he whimpered, "Please." He pleaded.

"How many fingers do you want to loose?" The foot ninja asked.

"NO!" Leo screamed, struggling to get out of the chains. The foot ninja laughed, "How about the whole hand?" He smirked, slowly placing the rough part of the blade against Leo's wrist. "Don't do this!" Leo shouted, squirming.

He cringed as he prepared himself for pain, but felt none. He looked and saw the blade of a sword sticking out of the foot ninja's neck. He twitched, then fell sideways, revealing Karai standing behind him with a bloodied sword in her hand.

"Oh my god." She gaped, feeling almost faint.

"Karai! Please…help me." He begged, Karai didn't move, she just stared in horror as Leo hung their, blood stained tears trickling down his face. She quickly flung the sword at the chains and sliced through them, causing Leo to fall to the ground.

She ran to him and helped him up, "Are you alright Leonardo?"

"No." He said sharply, "Get me out of here."

Karai nodded quickly and pulled him to his feet, she ripped her headband off her head and tied it around Leo's eye. Trying to stop the bleeding before he loses too much. It wasn't bleeding majorly, but without proper care, he would have passed out.

"What's going on?" Leo asked as him and Karai walked out of the room. "One minute, you were at home, next your gone. And I knew you came here so we came to get you out." Karai said.

"We?" Leo asked.

Suddenly, a foot ninja fell to the floor next to them as Casey ran up and spotted them, "There you are!" He said, and then froze, "Jesus Leo, you okay?"

"I'll be fine, just get me out of here." He stammered, dizzy.

"Don't worry buddy, we're getting you out of here." Casey said, putting his hockey stick away and taking out a baseball bat, leading the way. Karai kept Leo's arm firmly over her shoulder. He was still in a lot of shock that made it hard for him to process to move.

Leo's was blinded for the moment, one eye completely blind while spots and white flashes flooded his good eye.

Casey walked into the corridor and stopped, "Raph!" He called, looking around.

"What?" Leo heard Raph shout.

Suddenly, an explosion boomed at the end of the corridor, pushing Leo out of Karai's grip and forcing him to the floor. Once his head smacked the tile, he coughed violently and felt the blood rush up his throat and out to the floor.

He gathered the strength he had left in his body and pushed himself to his feet, as his vision slowly came back to him. He looked around for Karai and Casey, seeing nothing but smoke.

"Explosions?" He asked himself softly, "What the hell is going on."

He knew this wasn't a normal foot ninja fight, if explosions are used, then something worse is happening.

As blood seeped through Karai's headband and rolled down his cheek, he staggered through the smoke. Trying to find anyone that could help him. All he wanted was to get out of here, get the others and get out.

He felt a hand grab his shell and spin him around, then he was face to face with Casey, "Leo! You still with me?" He asked, pushing his mask to the top of his head, revealing the worry in his face.

Leo nodded, "Come on, we got to get you out of here." Casey said.

Suddenly, it was as if everything stopped. Leo's eye glided to the ground, suddenly remembering what he came here to do.

Kill Saki.

This was his chance, he could still make it happen. Leo looked down the corridor, knowing where he was, and knowing where Saki is. He twirled around, grabbed a bat out of Casey's bag and sprinted down the corridor, turning the corner and sprinting away.

"Leo?" He heard the sound of Mikey's voice say. But Leo couldn't see him, most likely on the side of his bad eye.

Leo felt himself lose balance a few times, not use to having limited sight, but motivation and desperation kept him going. He turned another corner and spotted the door, he gritted his teeth and slammed into the door, bursting it open.

Almost immediately, he saw Saki standing in the center, looking nervous and uneasy. "How did I know you were going to come running to me." Saki said, hands shaking.

Leo didn't respond, only tightened the grip on Casey's bat and glared at Saki in hate. "Look at yourself." Saki said, "Holding a bat instead of a sword, intentions to kill, you are becoming like me more and more everyday." He smirked.

"I am nothing like you." Leo growled.

Saki stared into Leo's eyes, mind rushing. Saki snapped into action and reached for his sword that he showcased on his wall. But once his hand wrapped around the handle, Leo swung his bat down and smashed it into Saki's hand.

He retreated and cradled his hand close to his chest. Saki cringed as he watched Leo circle around him. "Take this into consideration turtle. Killing me won't do anything for you, you will achieve nothing by killing me."

Leo shook his head, "I'm not trying to achieve anything…you've threatened my family, insulted our honor." He said, "Honestly I don't care if I'm achieving nothing, I just want to see you suffer." He growled, shoving the end of the bat into his nose. Saki's head jerked his head back as his broken nose leaked out blood.

"Listen to yourself. You want to see me suffer. Before this cancer you fought with honor, not personal greed." He said, breathing heavily, "You've changed, and you cannot stop that. Face it Leonardo, you can't stop it."

Leo dropped the bat, casually strode over to the wall, tearing the sword off the wall and walking back in front of Saki.

"Leonardo…This is your final mission."

Leo glared down at Saki with confusion, "What?"

"If you succeed, you are free. You can hold on to the life you once had, go back to your lair with your brothers…and I will leave new york and you and your brothers will never see me again. But if you fail, you loose the life you had worked so hard to achieve. You will be thrown into the life of hate and greed…as I was." He said. "Spare my life…and succeed. But if you kill me, you fail."

Leo caught his breath, staring at the blade of the sword, then back at Saki, contemplating.

…

Karai stood in the smoke, feeling sadness and grief strike her heart as she took down each foot ninja that stood in her way. For years she has trained these foot ninja's, making them what they are today, and now she's killing them.

She slashed two more as she sprinted down, stopping near Raph, "Have you seen where Leonardo went?" She asked.

Raph grunted, nodding as she countered two foot ninja's. She groaned and ran past him, charging down the hallway as she sliced a few foot ninja's as she passed.

She turned down the corridor and shouted Leo's name, recoiling with sudden fear, but not for Leo, for her father. Karai knew Leo was capable of killing Saki, but questioned if he would when the chance was given.

She stopped at the sight of Casey, "Where did Leonardo go?" She asked. Casey smacked his hockey stick into a ninja's head then turned, "That way, took my bat!" He said, then turned back into the action.

Karai knew at that moment where Leo was, the fear in her stomach increased, she breathed nervously and ran down the corridor, ignoring the foot ninja's that were trying to attack her.

She knew her father was out of hand, but he was her father, and she knew he would do anything for her, even though she has betrayed him.

Karai spotted her fathers door down the corridor and shouted Leo's name again, running as fast as she could to stop Leo before he does something drastic. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as she slammed the doors open. Instantly seeing Saki on his knees and Leo standing over him with Saki's sword in his hand.

Saki quickly turned and spotted Karai, eyes filling with relief. "Karai." He said softly. Leo turned his head and glared at Karai, she noticed a small tear leave his good eye as he held the blade at Saki's throat.

Saki went to stand up, Leo closed his eye, then flicked his wrist.

Karai watched Saki's neck turn blood red in seconds. She stared in shock and disbelief as Saki's hands flew to his neck, blood cascading through his fingers and spilling out into the door.

Leo stared at Karai as Saki leaned on him for support, life fading slowly. He didn't move, didn't even flinch when Saki's hand clenched around his arm, leaving bruises on his skin.

"I'm sorry." Leo said softly.

Karai felt tears slide down her face as her father took his last breath, slumping forward onto the floor, staining the black carpet with blood.

Suddenly, everything stopped. Behind Karai, the army of foot ninja's stopped fighting and marched into the room, gazing at the sight of their master's defeat. Leo looked down at the sight, Saki's blood still oozing out of the wound.

After all these years, Saki was finally dead.

No more missions.

No more worry.

Everyone was dead.

Stockman.

Bishop.

Hun.

Saki.

All dead.

For once, Leo felt like he could breath. He looked out into the crowd, spotting his brothers, April, Casey, and Karai. Around them were endless amounts of foot ninjas, standing, gaping at the sight.

Then suddenly, one by one, each of them starting dropping to one knee, bowing their head. Raph watched them in confusion, "What are they doing?" He asked softly.

Karai took a breath, staring at her dead father with tears streaming down her face, "They're bowing to their new master." She said softly.

Leo glanced down at Saki and shook his head, "I am not their master." He said in a growl, "No one is." He looked up at the crowd and dropped the sword, "The foot are done." He said, stepping away from Saki and through the crowd of foot ninja's. He walked out of the room and the turtles looked at each other nervously. Raph groaned and ran after Leo, "Hey!" He shouted.

Leo stopped, catching his breath, "What?"

Raph stopped in front of him and looked at him, feeling like he hasn't looked at him in ages, "Are you alright?"

Leo sighed, touching Karai's headband and examining his finger, "I'll be fine." He said softly.

Raph breathed out in relief, taking Leo and pulling him into a hug, "You did it Leo. You killed Saki." He said, squeezing Leo tighter then he ever has.

Leo smiled a bit, "Yeah…I guess I did." He said, then frowned, "But I still have cancer."

"We'll deal with that, lets just focus on the fact that we are free from Shredders reign." He said, grabbing Leo's shoulder, "Leo…I'm so proud of you." He said, tears trickling down his face, "We can finally live without worry." He claimed.

Leo nodded softly, then jumped slightly when he heard Mikey cheer behind him. "You did it bro!" He shouted, hugging Leo from the back, Don came up behind him and slugged him in the shoulder, "Way to go bro."

Leo smiled softly, feeling his eyes burn being with his brothers once again. "I couldn't have done it without you guys." Leo said, seeing Casey and April join him.

"Leo we got to do something about that eye." April said softly.

Leo nodded, "Yeah, lets get back to the farmhouse." He claimed, then walked toward the exit, for the last time.

When he pushed the doors open, he felt smelled the fresh air and the beautiful sunlight as it hit his face, clearing the sweat from the adrenaline. He gazed down and saw the battle shell stalled in the street. His brothers, April and Casey walked past him, still talking about how it felt to not have to worry about Saki again.

Leo took a breath, then turned around, spotting Karai walk up to him.

"Leo, come on!" Mikey shouted.

"In a sec." Leo said, then turned, facing Karai.

She smiled softly, hiding her true emotions, "Congratulations…you won." She said with limited emotion.

Leo placed his hand on her shoulder, "We won." He said with a smile. "Listen…it had to be done. There was no other way."

"I understand," She said quickly, "He got out of hand."

Leo frowned, nodding softly, then took a deep breath, looking back at his brothers, "Well…I got to get going." He said.

Karai smiled and nodded, "Well…I guess this is goodbye." Karai said, holding out her hand. Leo smiled, took her hand and shook it, "Thank you…for everything." He said softly.

Karai bowed her head and watched Leo turn around and walk toward the battle shell. She smiled sadly as he stepped inside and disappeared from sight. Leaving her in a confused state. The battle shell roared to life and sped down the road, turning into the next street and completely disappearing.

Karai fell to her knees and sobbed hard in her hands, not understand why. Partly happy because it was finally over, but also sad because her father was dead. No matter what the reason was, she knelt down in front of the building that belonged to a broken group and wept softly.

…

Leo stared out of the window as the battle shell sped down the road, letting everything sink in. Saki was dead, the foot were history, he and his brothers were safe, until his cancer finally takes Leo's life. But they will figure something out at a later time.

The turtles had nothing left to worry about, they were free from danger.

"It feels weird, doesn't it?" Mikey asked, "I mean…The Shredder is dead.

"What's going to happen now?" Don asked.

Raph grunted and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, "I don't know. I guess we'll figure that out when we settle down." He said, shooting Leo a look, Leo followed his look and smiled, leaning his head back against the chair and gazing out of the window.

…

Nobody had spoken a word about what happened when they got back to the farmhouse, April and Don instantly pulled Leo into the kitchen to heal his wound. Once they sat him down, they pulled off Karai's headband and began cleaning up the wound to stop further infection.

As they patched up his wound, he thought about what Saki said. About the life he could never go back to if he killed him. He knew Saki was lying about it, but something about it left an uneasy feeling in his stomach.

After about an hour of sitting, watching Don wrap some kind of bandage on his head, he finished and Leo stood up, stepping out of the kitchen and into the bathroom. He closed the door and turned on the light, looking at himself in the mirror.

He cringed slightly, seeing the large, bulbous bandage that protruded from his head. Nothing was ever going to be the same. With half vision and Saki gone, he felt like life was going to change drastically.

"I see a lot of me in you" Saki's voice boomed through his head. He closed his eye and placed his hand against his aching head. Suddenly, loud knocks sounded through the bathroom, Leo jumped and looked at the door, feeling his heart race as he opened it, "What?" He asked loudly.

It was Don, "You okay?"

Leo closed his eye and sighed, "Yeah." He said, walking past him and into the kitchen where Raph and April stood.

"Leo." Raph said sternly.

Leo turned and looked at Raph, Raph took a deep breath, "Mikey needs to know." He said softly.

Then it hit him, Mikey still doesn't know about the cancer. It felt as if his heart had suddenly turned to stone, "Dammit." He whispered softly, rubbing his head. "Where is he?" He asked.

Raph pointed into the living room and Leo followed his point. He spotted Mikey and Casey on the sofa, talking. "I don't know if I can do this." Leo said softly. "You told me and Don without any hesitations." Raph said.

"Yeah because I had no choice." He said.

"And you have a choice now?" Raph retaliated.

Leo groaned, "That's not what I meant." He said.

_"Attention turtles!" _

Everyone froze, Raph's eyes widened as he looked around at everyone, "What the hell was that?" He asked. It sounded as If it were coming from a megaphone, Leo turned toward the window, feeling his skin turn cold as he stared at the heart dropping sight.

Everyone followed Leo's gaze and saw the same thing.

Soldiers, surrounding them, dressed in black with assault rifles pointed at the house. "What's going on?" Don asked.

"You turtles, have been living all these years on borrowed time." The voice boomed again, "And now, your time is up."

All at once, Leo watched as the first few soldiers took their Molotov's, light them, and then launch them at the house. The house erupted in a blazing fire in a matter of seconds. Casey quickly charged at the door, kicked it down and commanded everyone outside.

April and Don ran out first, Raph pushed Mikey out of the door as Leo trialed behind them. "That's right, turtles. Run out of your hiding place." The voice boomed again.

Leo coughed violently as he looked up at the crowd, spotting someone out of the ordinary standing in front of the soldiers. His eyes widened as his heart plummeted.

"Bishop!?" He screamed.

Bishop's lips curled up into a sinister smile, "That's right turtle, you really thought that I died in the explosion. I was the one who rigged the bombs, I blew up my own building." He said grimly.

"Why?" Leo shouted as he brothers stopped coughing and looked up at Bishop.

"Because, it was all apart of my plan all along. My plan to rid you turtles once and for all. Do you recall out last encounter before your disease? When I supposedly shot you with a tranquilizer dart." He said, "Well little did you know, I actually injected you with a formula that speeds up the process of splitting your cancer cells, spreading them all over the body."

Leo felt his body go numb, "You…gave me cancer?"

Bishop smiled, "That's right, and I knew with your pride and stubborn nature, you wouldn't go to your brothers. I knew you would go to Leatherhead. Now I will admit, I did not expect you to team up with Saki and kill Hun."

Leo's eyes widened.

"What?" Raph growled.

"Leo…what does he mean team up with Saki?" Don asked.

"Oh you guys didn't know? You're "fearless leader" went to Saki instead of coming to you guys. He joined Saki." Bishop said with a fierce grin.

"Are you fucking kidding me!" Raph growled.

Leo felt his anger boil deep in his stomach, "You son of a bitch." He growled.

"And I also knew that Leatherhead would call me and ask for help. So I led you astray, knowing that Stockman had created a cure for cancer and intended to bring it to his dear old mother to cure her cancer. So I fed you lies, had you kill Stockman and take the briefcase. And once you got it, I destroyed my building because I knew that inside that building was the only possible way that cure could be made." Bishop explained, "Also, I hired the gunman to murder you, and if he failed, I gave him everything he needed to say to you."

Leo felt his stomach churn as vomit collected in his throat. "Hun and Saki's death was just an added bonus. And now, it's time to add all of your names to that list." He said, then raised the megaphone. "OPEN FIRE!" He screamed.

As the farmhouse burned behind them, waves of bullets sped toward them. Casey tackled Don behind his truck for cover. Raph pulled April and ran behind the shed, taking a bullet in the forearm.

With mind rushing, Leo grabbed Mikey's bicep and ran behind the house, feeling bullets hit his shell. He dived to the ground and pulled Mikey with him, taking cover behind a boulder. He looked around hastily and saw Raph and April, Raph was trying to talk to them, but the sound of the bullets drowned him out.

Then Raph pointed at the forest. Leo turned and saw the forest just ahead of them, but they would have to run through the gunfire. He turned back to look at Raph and saw him and April running full speed toward the forest.

"Raph!" Leo screamed, then cursed when they disappeared inside the trees. He peeked around the corner and looked for Casey and Don, then noticed Casey in the forest, looking back at his farmhouse. Don ran up behind him and pulled him back into a sprint. Running the opposite way of Raph and April.

"Shit!" Leo shouted.

"Leo what are we going to do?" Mikey asked quickly.

Leo looked at the forest, then took a deep breath, "We run into the forest." He said.

"But Raph and April ran that way!" He pointed toward the shed, "Yeah and Don and Casey ran the other way. We'll find them but for now we have to get out of here!" He screamed.

He readied himself, feeling blood seep out of his bandage. "Ready?" He said. Mikey took a deep breath and nodded. "Try to use your shell as a shield if they start shooting at us." Leo said.

"Will they shoot at us?" Mikey asked.

"No, we should be fine." Leo said, then took a deep breath, "Run!" He screamed. Both he and Mikey lunged forward into a full sprint. Mikey ran in front of Leo as they both headed for the forest.

As the forest drew closer, Leo felt dust hit his legs as a bullet impacted the ground in front of him. "Just keep running Mikey!" Leo screamed. Then saw Mikey's foot smack hard into a rock, which caused him to fall to the ground hard. Leo couldn't stop himself in time and tripped over his baby brother, forcing him to the ground.

He groaned and quickly scattered to his feet, reached out and grabbed Mikey's bicep and helped him up. "Come on Mikey!" Leo shouted as they inched close to the woods. Leo felt Mikey's hand tug as he tried to pull him to his feet.

"Come on Mikey!" Leo shouted, turning back and looking down at him.

He was still on the ground, face expressionless as blood trickled out of the bullet wound in his head. "MIKEY!" Leo screamed, kneeling down next to him and cradling him close. Tears flooded out of his eye and fell upon Mikey's lifeless face as his dead eyes stared up into the sky.

"Mikey please!" He pleaded, "Don't do this to me!"

Leo hugged Mikey close and wailed out in a harsh cry as bullets sped past him, missing him by inches. He looked back down at the crowd of soldiers and saw some of them break off into groups and run into the forest.

"FUCK YOU!" Leo screamed, holding Mikey tighter. "You killed my baby brother!" He wailed, holding the lifeless corpse of his baby brother, the brother that never knew about his cancer.

…

The lair was quiet, no sign of the turtles. The lair had sort of an empty feeling to it, as if after all these years, it still wasn't enough to be called home. It has become more of an empty shell. It felt almost haunting, it was so quiet that your mind would start playing tricks on you. Like hearing footsteps, or voices, calling your name, but you know that none of it is real.

But what happened next was real.

An explosion, starting in the kitchen, crumbling everything that came in its way. Wooden shards from the table went flying through the lair with so much force that the sharp ones stuck into the couch.

Then the next explosion goes off, this one in the main room, making the TV explode and causing an even greater explosion. The couch was obliterated in second, turning into nothing but ash and traces of yarn. Precious family photos are ruined in seconds, books from the bookshelf turned to ash. The explosion sparked another, more major one to come out of Don's lab. Ruining every small thing that he has spent years working on.

Then explosions from their rooms erupted, starting from Raph's, then Mikey's, then Don's, and ending with Leo's. The second floor crumbled easily and dropped into pieces on the first floor.

The explosions were so massive, that it caused the road above the lair to crack and rumble. Innocent citizens stopped and exchanged worried glances as they felt the floor shake and tremble.

Unable to hold itself anymore, the road collapsed and fell into the lair, causing cars and helpless people to come cascading in. The lair was covered in a sheet of broken road and cars in mere seconds.

A burnt piece of paper flew aimlessly in the wind, dancing as it flip flopped through the air, then rested peacefully on the ground. The paper was burnt, only showing a small piece.

_and I'm sorry…for everything._

_Leo_

* * *

**_Oh by the way, there will be no separate story to continue this. It will be one big story, and it is far from over. _**


	19. Chapter 19

_**This is probably my favorite chapter. I don't know why, i think this chapter sets up the coming events quite nicely. **_

_**Update on life, yesterday was my 18th birthday and i start college this thursday. But i made sure to take days off of that and work to update. Don't worry guys, this story isn't going to die. **_

_**Ok, enough. **_

_**Enjoy**_

* * *

Chapter 19

"Just keep running April!" Raph screamed as he searched through his belt for his sai's, but found nothing. "Shit!" He shouted, turning back and seeing if the coast was clear. There were no soldiers in sight, but he could feel them right behind him.

"Wait wait!" Raph stated, skidding to a stop. He peered through squinted eyes as he scanned the forest, looking for any sign of soldiers. He knew that they saw Don and Casey run into the forest, but he didn't know if the soldiers saw them.

"I think we're good." He said, catching his breath.

"Raph," April said, "What the hell happened?"

Raph didn't take his eyes off the forest as he thought about everything. "What…what was Bishop talking about?" April asked again. Raph shook his head, "I don't know, I don't know alright? We need to find the others. That's all I can think of."

Raph felt so many emotions at once, anger, confusion, fear, worry. He heard the gunfire in the distance and felt his stomach churn, "You think the others made it?" April asked, rubbing a hand through her hair.

Raph placed his hand flat against the tree, leaned on it and caught his breath, "I don't know." He said softly, hating not knowing. "But lets not think about that. Let's just find them and get back to the lair."

April nodded and took a deep breath, then looked up in time to see the solider running at them, "RAPH!" She screamed.

Raph turned and watched the solider plunge his knife deep into Raph's hand and through the tree. Raph screamed and held his wrist as the soldier released his knife and kept Raph pinned to the tree as he charged at April. Raph wanted to scream for April to run, but his complete focus was on his hand, he couldn't move it, only watched as the blood dripped out from his hand.

"Shit!" He growled, grabbing the knife and trying to pull it out, but couldn't find the strength. April yelped as the solider grabbed her shoulder and threw her into a tree. She fell to the ground and the solider pulled out a smaller knife and held it to her throat. She squealed and reached out to grab anything that was near her as the soldier pushed the knife deeper into her skin. She began to panic when blood began rolling down her neck. Her fingers brushed against a large rock as the solider began slicing. She felt gallons of blood begin to rush out as she grabbed the rock and slammed it against the soldier's head.

The solider rolled off and April quickly forced her hand against the wound. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the solider start to recover, she grabbed the rock again and bashed it against his head, then again.

Raph took a deep breath as he watched April bludgeon the solider to death with a rock. He looked up when something caught his eye in the forest, another solider, rifle pointed at April as moving closer. April was oblivious to the solider and concentrated on killing the soldier below her.

"APRIL!" Raph screamed, grabbing the handle of the knife and tugging hard, feeling his skin rip as the blade slid out of the tree. His hand fell limply to the ground as he turned, grabbed the blade of the knife and launched it at the solider, impaling him in the head.

April looked up as the solider smacked the ground, blood dripping from her neck and the rock she held in her hand. The soldier below her was dead on the third hit, but with the mixture of fear and anger, she beat him to a near bloody pulp. She looked back at Raph and saw him holding his hand close to his plastron, examining the wound frigidly.

"Oh my god, Raph!" She cried, rushing to her feet and leaving her wound unattended while she checked on Raph. There was a rather severe gash on his palm, leaving a hole big enough to see though. He quickly hid the hand and shook his head, "I'll be fine." He said coolly, "Lets just get the hell out of here, there's bound to be more on the way."

"But that's just it Raph!" April shouted, worriedly wrapping her arm around him as they began walking. "Where are we going?"

"The lair. It's our only option." Raph answered.

"But Don was attacked there, don't they know where it is?" She claimed reluctantly.

"The foot attacked him…the foot are done. Bishop doesn't know about it yet." Raph said.

April thought about the foot ninja's and hastily ran though the forest with Raph. She turned around to scan the forest of any soldiers. They were good for now, but she knew they were out there.

"April." Raph said softly.

"Yeah?"

Raph stopped, clutching his hand as he glared down at April, "You obviously knew about Leo's cancer before I did." He said, sparking fear in April's heart, "Did you know he joined Saki?"

April stayed quiet, she knew that the next words that would come out of her mouth could hurt Raph, or her. Lying about it would put April in a place she didn't want to be, and would just cause more unnecessary stress. But telling the truth could ruin Raph's trust with April.

"Yes." She said finally.

Raph stopped, chuckling softly, "Raph, you don't understand."

"Why?" He said softly, "Just why?"

April didn't know how to respond, because truly, she didn't know, "I..I don't know."

"You don't know?" Raph started to shout, "My brother was running around with that monster, you knew about it and decided to just leave it be!" His blinding anger struck fear deep into April's heart. "Raph please!" She begged.

"Shut up…" He spat, "Jesus Christ what else don't I know? Is there anyone I can trust?"

April felt his eyes begin to burn as Raph turned and walked away, "Raph!" She shouted in shock, Raph didn't stir, just continued walking through the forest, alone.

….

Don and Casey ran as fast as they could as the soldiers started closing in behind them.

"Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit!" Casey shouted as bullets sped past him. Don grabbed Casey's bicep and sharply turned left, maneuvering away from the soldier's sight. "Quick!" Don snapped, "Up the tree!" He commanded.

Don leapt up in the air, grabbed onto a branch and swung himself up. Casey grabbed a tree nearby and climbed his up to the top, away from sight. The soldiers stopped, scanning the woods, "Search for them, they couldn't have gone far." One of them commanded.

Don pressed himself up against the tree and glanced up at Casey, holding a finger to his lips

Casey nodded and peeked over the edge. There were about twelve soldiers below them, each with a heavy assault rife. Casey looked up at Don, then beyond him at the smoke cloud that infiltrated the sky. Knowing in his heart that it was his farmhouse.

The farmhouse that has been in his family for years, now lay in a pile of ashes. Countless mementos, timeless memories, gone in a second. The bubble of sorrow in Casey's heart slowly faded into anger, he closed his eyes, mind rushing.

"Don," He said softly.

Don glared up at him.

"When I tell you, you're going to run. Get out of the forest. Try to meet back up with the others, if not, get to my apartment. I will meet you there when I get back." Casey said quickly, moving his feet over the edge.

"Casey what the hell are you doing? We're sticking together!" Don whispered loudly.

Casey shrugged, "I've never been good at following directions." He said, then leapt off the branch, landing hard on top of a solider and ramming his knee into the back of his head. Casey quickly grabbed the soldier's rifle and fired into the crowd.

"NOW DON! GO!" He screamed, running into the crowd, gun blazing.

Don watched in horror and wanted to help him, but he knew he couldn't do much, so he followed Casey's orders, jumped off the tree and dashed through the woods. Trying his best to avoid looking back and trying to concentrate on looking for his brothers or April.

"Oh shit." He said suddenly, stopping, realizing what he just did. He turned back and looked through the trees, seeing the soldiers numbers quickly grow, but lost sight of Casey. "No." He said softly, wanting to run back, but knowing it was just not an option.

"I'm sorry Casey." He whispered, shaking his head as he turned back and ran out of the forest and into the empty field.

…

Once Don entered the city, he climbed on top of the first building he found and used the rooftops to travel. He kept his eyes peeled for his brothers, wondering if they made it out.

Then the slight fear hit him, what if they didn't? What if the soldiers got to them and captured them, or worse.

Don knew he couldn't think like that, he needed to keep his mind on thinking that his brothers went back to the lair and is waiting for him and Casey. He kept his mind true to that thought as he leapt onto Casey's apartment building. As he went to crawl down the ladder, he noticed something off in the distance.

Smoke.

He studied the smoke with curiosity, it was unusual for a smoke cloud that big to be in the heart of the city, unless something really bad happened. Don knew he couldn't walk away without seeing what it was, he climbed back onto the roof and followed the smoke, then the sirens started growing as Don drew closer.

His worry started to turn to fear as the familiarity of the area hit him. Then he skidded to a stop on the roof just above the smoke. He knew what the smoke was coming from, but he didn't want to believe it.

He cautiously staggered toward the edge, smoke filling up his lungs as he peered over the edge.

A large gaping hole replaced the street their lair was below. Don stared in misery as he could see the contents of his lair from up here, police crowded the entire block, fire fighters trying to put out the small fire that the explosion caused.

Their home was gone, but not only gone. Exposed.

Just as Don was about to give up, something caught his eye, he glanced and saw a torn, slightly burnt piece of paper stuck on the fire escape. He reached for it and grabbed it, spreading it out and reading the small, scribbled handwriting.

_If you guys happen to be reading this, then I'm most likely dead. I know I've been acting odd lately, but it's all in good reason. I had to keep the truth from you guys. I couldn't let you guys know. I had to do what I did to protect you guys. If you don't know already, I had cancer, and there was no hope for a cure since Leatherhead didn't know what to do. So I did what I had to, to insure your safety if and when I pass, You guys probably won't agree with the choices that I made, but I made them for you guys. I took Shredders offer he made many years ago, I joined him. He told me that if I joined him, then he would ensure that you guys will not be harmed by the foot anymore. It was the only way I could protect you guys after I pass. I'm sorry for everything I put you through by keeping this secret from you. You guys are the world to me and I want nothing more then to know that you guys are safe. I love you all, and I hope you guys carry on and live a better life then this. I lov-_

The rest of the letter was burnt, unable to be read, but he recognized the hurried handwriting. It was Leo without a doubt. Don reread the note over a few more times, then lose feeling in his legs and fell backward into a door, sliding down to the ground.

"Leo joined Saki to protect us." Don said to no one, but was unable to keep it in. He buried his face in his hands and clenched his hands into fists. He was filled with emotions he couldn't process, he didn't know weather to be angry, sad, scared.

Don grabbed his mask and slide if off his face, rubbing his eyes. He held the mask tight in his hand, feeling suddenly numb.

…

April didn't know how much time had pass since Raph left her. It had to have been a couple hours, she didn't know what else to do. So she just sat by a tree and hoped to god either one of the turtles or Casey found her, and not the soldiers. But the gunfire had stopped a long time ago. But she was afraid to move, fearing the soldiered were watching her.

But she knew she couldn't stay here forever. She reluctantly stood up and looked around, checking for any sign of movement. She took a deep breath and pushed through the trees to the only place she knew she could go.

Back to the farmhouse, praying the soldiers were gone.

She wiped grime away from his face as she walked out of the forest, seeing the field completely empty and the farmhouse, burnt and broken. April stared emotionless, then sauntered fearfully toward the burnt farmhouse, smelling the smoke and burnt wood from a distance.

She felt her skin begin to crawl at the sight, a place that the turtles and them had always had to lay low, now destroyed and left with nothing.

April stopped at the charred door, putting her hand against the wood and feeling the rough, slightly warm sensation. She pushed the door and it swung open with ease.

She expected everything to be normal once that door opened, but what she saw made her feel like she couldn't move.

Everything was destroyed, everything lost.

She felt her muscles tense with the traumatic sight, she knew there was nothing left. So why did she feel the need to search. She walked around nervously, examining the destroyed living room, kitchen, dining room.

She went upstairs and into the first room she saw, staggering to the window. Gazing out, she knew that Leo, Mikey, Casey, Don, and Raph were out their somewhere. But she hoped that they were together, or all hope will be lost.

Or maybe, all hope is already lost.

"Hello Mrs. O'Neil." She heard a familiar raspy voice growl.

She didn't stir, but felt as her heart smashed into her stomach. "I would like to…apologize, for the sudden turn of events. If I may, I would like to explain myself."

"Spare me." April growled, hands turned to fists as she turned around and glared at Bishop, suddenly full of fear. "Are you going to kill me?" She asked softly.

Bishop's lip curled down, "No." He spoke.

April chuckled, "And do you expect me to just up and believe you?" She snapped.

Bishop shrugged, "It's simple really…if I kill you, what good would that do me. I am a man that doesn't like to waste my time, and no offense Mrs. O'Neil. But you have nothing of use to me."

April didn't speak, she just shook her head and turned back to the window, "And also, I feel like I should tell you." Bishop said hesitantly.

April turned and faced him.

Bishop took a deep breath, "Your friend Casey…is dead."

April's stomach shrunk as vomit rushed up to her throat, heart smashing as tears began to form in her eyes.

"Now let me speak for a second.

"Fuck you!" April snapped, "Who the hell do you think you are? You think you can just barge into our lives when you want and ruin everything."

Bishop frowned in confusion, "And what have I ruined Mrs. O'Neil?"

"Everything!" She shouted, "You burned down Casey's farmhouse, you killed Casey, attacked up without mercy, you gave Leo cancer!" She screamed.

Bishop was silent, then smiled, suddenly starting to laugh. "Mrs. O'Neil, you really think I gave Leonardo cancer?" He spoke through laughs.

April's eyebrows lowered, "What?" She said softly. Bishop smiled and April's fear began to rise, "What did you do to Leo?"

Bishop shrugged, "Nothing." He said simply, "I did absolutely nothing to your precious turtle."

April went to speak, but couldn't find the words, still trying to process everything in her head, "I don't understand."

"Mrs. O'Neil, it is physically impossible to give someone cancer, even I thought you would know that."

"So why did you say that you gave him cancer." April asked.

"Because, if a mind is scared, shocked, or otherwise not living to its full potential. You can tell the brain anything and the only choice they will have is to believe you. Much like I did a few seconds ago."

April's confusion skyrocketed as her head began to hurt slightly, "Casey is not dead, he is very much alive. But because you were afraid and scared, you believed me without hesitation. That's how the mind works Mrs. O'Neil. And I figured that out and used it to my advantage."

"So you basically brainwashed Leo into thinking he was going to die." April stated with hate.

"No," He said softly, "Leonardo brainwashed himself. He jumped to the first conclusion that he was going to die and went to drastic measures and did what he did. And when he came to me, I sensed the fear and stress, and used it to my advantage. Thus, fulfilling my ever long goal of finally finishing off the turtles."

April wanted to hit Bishop more then anything, but knew he could easily kill her in a second, "Why don't you just kill him already and finish it, why make him suffer."

"Because Mrs. O'Neil. Physical warfare has always failed me, it has failed Shredder and everyone in between. So I go to where I know I can win. Physiological warfare. By mixing anger with stress and fear, I was able to turn Leonardo into the very enemy he had been fighting all these years."

April's eyebrows lowered. "What do you mean?"

Bishop smiled, "If I remember correctly, I believe Leonardo was the one who finished off Saki once and for all. Now what was that old saying, kill a king, and become a king."

April felt her legs begin to fail as she fell back onto the bed, sitting and staring at the floor.

"Until next time Mrs. O'Neil."

April quickly looked up to stop him, but he was already gone by the time she looked up. She rubbed a hand through her hair and let out a confused, scared sigh. She didn't understand what Bishop meant when he said _Turning Leonardo into the very enemy he had been fighting. _But no matter what she thought about it, it scared her. But she didn't know what she could do about it. She didn't know where Leo was, or anyone for that matter. She was alone.

….

Leo lay on the ground of the forest, staring at nothing. The warmth he felt next to him made him feel slightly at ease, but then he remembered that his dead baby brother's body was next to him, throwing him back in his delusions.

He wasn't thinking about the fire.

Nor was he thinking about Don or Raph.

Or even Mikey.

He was thinking about Bishop. And about how much he screwed up.

The guilt ate him alive, and he knew that he needed redemption. For everything. For ruining their family, for Splinter, for Mikey.

His hands clenched into fists, taking dirt and leaves with him. "I'm sorry Mikey." He said softly, then pushed himself to his feet and walked through the forest. Forgetting everything that was in his mind, except for one thing.

His hatred for Bishop.

Emotionless, he trudged through the forest, knowing he couldn't take on Bishop alone. But he knew how to fix that.

…

Leo stopped, the dark gave the building an ominous look. A sudden flashback interrupted his thoughts, the time when he first walked up to this building with the sick thought that Saki would actually spare him. But he felt no fear for this building anymore.

He walked up to the door, pushed it open with both hands and entered, keeping his eyes straight. There were foot ninja's roaming the halls, but Leo paid no attention to them.

The foot ninja's stopped and stared at Leo walked through the corridors. More and more foot ninja's started flooding out of each door, but not attacking. Instead, they bowed. One by one, each of them fell onto one knee, lowering their head as he passed.

Leo turned the corner and stopped at Saki's room, part of him expecting Saki to be sitting there once he opened the doors.

He took a deep breath, placed both hands on the doors and pushed them open. His heart slammed down when he was what was inside.

Saki, sitting in his chair, glaring at Leo with a smile.

Leo closed his eyes, shaking his head. Then opened them again. Saki was gone. His chair was empty.

Leo took another deep breath, stepped into his room and up to his chair, everything seemed to slow down as he lowered himself down into the chair. He looked out and saw the foot ninja's still hurriedly walking into his room.

Leo sat down in his chair, leaning back and taking a deep breath as he looked out into the crowd.

Again, one by one, they each dropped to one knee, lowering their heads, bowing to their new master.

…..

All at once, everything hit him. But something felt wrong. He felt his head throb as he groaned and sat up, rubbing the tender spot on his head. He looked around, noticing he was alone in the forest. "What the hell." He groaned softly.

"Mikey?" He heard a familiar voice say.

Mikey turned around and squinted in the dark, seeing only a figure. "Who is that?" Mikey asked out loud.

He heard chuckles, then the figure stepped out into the moonlight, "You already don't remember me." Casey said sarcastically, blood soaked his shirt and his face, holding a bloodied and broken hockey stick in one hand and a machine gun in the other.


	20. Chapter 20

_**Taadaa! Jet's here to bring you a new chapter! Hope you all enjoy! **_

* * *

Chapter 20

The night was silent, there were very little amount of people on the streets, due to the fact that the mayor of the city has ordered everyone to stay in their homes. The explosion caused a major cacophony of terror and panic throughout New York. Everyone still thinks that the building explosion and the street explosion were terrorist attacks and were somehow connected.

Only a few people knew the truth.

Don was sitting on the floor of Casey's apartment, eagerly awaiting someone to come. He held his shell cell tight in his hand, praying for someone to call. He had tried Leo three times, but no luck. Mikey and Raph's phone was in the farmhouse while it burnt.

Don thought about trying Leo again, desperate to know something. He groaned it anger and stood up, throwing his cell onto the table near his mask. He staggered over to the window and leaned against the glass, pressing his head against the cold surface, hoping to clear his pounding headache.

The smoke still stained the sky, smoke that came from the turtle's home. Or what use to be their home.

Don wondered how things would have been like if Leatherhead were still alive, or Splinter for that matter. Don couldn't help but wonder what Leatherhead's death had anything to do with the situation. How was Leatherhead in any part of this?

Don decided not to think about it, he stood up and began to pace, eyeing the door nervously. He hated not knowing if his brothers were safe, the thought crossed his mind that his brothers could have gone to the lair and waited for someone there. Don glanced out of the window and saw the thick black smoke still staining the sky.

With Bishop's building exploding, and the lair exploding, how many innocent people have died because of this? Don also thought about Stockman, and the hotel massacre. That most likely was apart of this, and Don was too horrified to figure out how many casualties there were, nor did he want to know the fatalities that followed the two explosions.

"What else is going to be destroyed?" Don asked himself darkly as he leaned his head against the window, glaring out into the darkening sky.

The real question was, what if left to destroy? The turtles have nothing left except each other, and Don knew that no one could destroy that. At least, he hoped no one could.

Just then, the door opened behind him. He quickly turned and instantly noticed Casey, bloodied and beaten. "Casey! Thank god, what happened?!" Don asked quickly, running to his side.

"I kicked ass." He said with a grin.

"Looks like it, you look hurt." Don claimed.

"Nah, few scrapes and bruises, maybe a broken rib or two. Took a hard blow to the head…so concussion possibly. But other then that I'm fine." Casey retorted with another sly grin.

Don sighed, then looked when something caught his eye. His heart dropped as he quickly left Casey's side and wrapped his arms tightly around his little brother, "Mikey! Jesus Christ am I glad to see you."

Mikey hugged Don back tighter then ever, "The feelings mutual, what the hell happened back there?"

"Bishop is what happened." Casey replied as he sat down in his chair, hand close to his side. "Have you seen or heard from April?" He asked.

Don shook his head, "I've tried to call Leo, but he won't answer. Probably lost his phone."

Casey rubbed a hand through his hair, then glared at Mikey, "Mikey, you were with Leo when we all got split up. What happened?"

"I don't remember much actually." Mikey admitted, "All I remember is Leo and I running from the house to the forest. Then I remember waking up in the forest, alone. I lost my mask and got this scratch on my head."

Don moved to Mikey's side and looked at the scratch, "Oh my god." He muttered in shock. There was a large gash running across the side of Mikey's head, it was thick, but not very deep. "Looks like a bullet grazed the side of your head, tearing right through your mask."

"Dammit, my other masks are in the lair." Mikey said.

Don's heart turned to stone, breathing gone shallow. He lowered his head, feeling like his throat was clogged. He turned and faced the window, eyes distant as he looked out beyond the smoky grey sky.

He sighed, "The lairs gone."

Mikey's and Casey's head snapped at Don, suddenly Mikey noticed the smoke outside. He pushed his way to the window and glared at the sight with a hole in his heart and shock on his face.

"Was it Bishop?" Casey asked, stricken with disbelief.

"Who else would it be?" Don retorted.

Mikey clenched his fist, closing his eyes, "Why would anyone do this?"

Even Don couldn't answer that question, he knew Bishop was a bad man. But didn't realize that he would go to these limits to get rid of the turtles. Don had a feeling that this was one of those situations where if they make one mistake, it'll cost them their lives.

Because in a sick way. It was them, or Bishop.

…..

"Oh my god." Raph muttered unintentionally through dry lips, staring down into the gaping hole in the ground from a tall building. The lair was gone, destroyed, and everything inside was burnt to ashes.

The sight of it made Raph cringe, the dojo, their weapons, Splinters memorial, gone. But for some reason, the only thing that clouded his mind was Leo. Knowing that he went behind their backs and joined the enemy. But also, he knew he couldn't hate him. Because knowing Leo, in some way, shape, or form, he did it for the family. And Raph was waiting to hear what Leo had to say.

Raph spotted a firefighter down below, rummaging through a pile of debris. He came across something that wasn't burnt, or rock, and held it up. The small picture frame with the fabric portrait of the words, "Home, Sweet, Home"

Raph frowned, suddenly realizing that questions will arouse from this. Raph only hoped that all of the family portraits were destroyed to keep their family a secret. Which upset him more then anything, hoping that all of their cherished photos were destroyed.

Raph fought the urge to shed any tears, he needed to be strong now more then ever. Leo has gone off the deep end and Mikey and Don need someone to lead them.

"It seems like a bit much I know." Raph heard. His heart sank at the familiarity, "But understand it was for the best."

Before anything, Raph grabbed his sai and twirled around to slash Bishop, but Bishop caught his fist, twisted it, quickly grabbed the sai out of Raph's hand and extended his foot out, kicking Raph in the side and sending him to the ground.

"You foolish turtle, thinking you can stop me."

"I'm going to kill you, you son of a bitch!" Raph threatened.

Bishop chuckled, "Big words for a small turtle."

Raph growled as Bishop took Raph's only sai and tossed it off the edge, "I know I'm not the one you are mad at." Bishop started, fixing his tie, "It is your brother…Leonardo."

"What are you talking about?" Raph grunted.

Bishop smiled, knowing he had the turtle right where he wanted him, "Think about it, when he was informed about his cancer, he didn't go to his family. No…he went straight to Saki." Bishop grinned, noticing Raph's twitch of discomfort. "Begging, pleading almost, for him to leave you turtles alone after he is dead and gone."

Raph took a second to think about that, "Kind of sad actually. He doesn't even have faith in his own family."

"Leo has faith in us!" Raph shouted.

"Then why did he go to Saki begging for your immunity. Because to me, you three seemed to handle yourself pretty damn fine against the foot ninja's, the fight that Leonardo wasn't around for."

Raph felt his heart break in two as he stared down at the ground.

"Leonardo was in the mind set that you three are nothing without him. Now is that true?" Bishop asked.

Raph's mind rushed, not knowing what to think or say. "No."

Bishop smiled, "I thought not."

Raph looked down at the ground, part of him not wanting to believe Bishop, but he was so filled with anger that he couldn't help but believe him. Fury replaced anger as he looked up to attack Bishop, but then stopped, seeing that Bishop was gone.

….

Karai stepped through the doors of the foot building, groaning in misery. She didn't understand why, but she felt so many emotions of that day. Her father dying, the foot bowing to Leo. But Leo told Karai to handle it, and her way of handling it was disbanding them. The foot were no more. It just isn't the same without Saki.

For some reason, she felt like a lost puppy without her father. She knew he was power crazy, but she also knew that he loved her as he always did. He just wasn't himself.

But now he's gone, and so is Karai's desire to continue this charade.

She stopped when she heard strange sounds coming from the room next to her, she turned and opened the door, seeing a group of foot ninja's training in the dojo.

Confusion struck her as the foot trained intensely. "What is the meaning of this!" She snapped.

The head foot ninja walked to Karai, "Karai, we are training, as we were ordered."

"By who?" She asked.

"Our fearless leader." The foot responded.

…

The cops and firefighters cleared away from the lair to make way for the construction crew to come and fix everything, giving Leo just enough time to come back and see if he could save anything.

If he remembered correctly, he was standing in the kitchen, just about where the table use to be. Nothing was recognizable anymore, it was all just a mass heap of stone and debris piled with no trace of the original lair.

He rubbed his head, feeling the slightly worn out gauze still wrapped around his head. Come to think of it, he had completely forgotten that he had lost an eye. Though it didn't look any different from his perspective.

Leo felt as though he were in a new world, a world without Mikey.

When he joined with Saki in the first place, it was for protection for his brothers. Everything he did was for his brothers, but now, all he wants is Bishop's head on a spike, not only for what he did to Mikey, but for what he did to their family.

And the only way he felt he could get Bishop, was by leading the foot ninjas and getting them to help. But he knew that once Bishop was finally dead, he would order the foot to disband.

"You fucking traitor."

Leo felt his skin turn cold as his eye snapped open, stomach churning as he lowered his head and sighed. He turned and faced his brother, "Raph." He said softly.

"Don't." Raph snapped, "Who do you think you are? Some prodigy? No, believe it or not you're just a ninja, just like Don, Mikey, and me. You are not some legend that can make a difference, you are just a turtle. And for the record, the three of us are just as strong without you. You do not define our family, you are not the poster child of this team. You are in over your head." Raph growled, then took a deep breath, "We would have been fine without you."

Leo lowered his head in silence as his brother shouted at him. But he couldn't agree with him. If Leo agreed that his brothers would have been fine without him, then everything he has done would have been for nothing, and he couldn't accept that.

"Raph." Leo said softly.

"You know what, I'm done." Raph exhaled, pulling his mask off of his face, "I'm done with all of this. I never asked to be in this. But if course, you had to go and force everyone into something you started. Not anymore, I'm going to go find the others and we're getting away from you. You can stay here and fight all you want."

Raph turned to walk away, but Leo couldn't let him. "Raph." He said sternly.

"WHAT!" He screamed, raging coursing through his veins.

For a second, this all seemed like déjà vu. Just Leo and Raph, tension's high. Just like the night he told Raph that he had cancer. But somehow, this felt worse.

Leo looked up into Raph's eyes, taking small breaths to try and steady himself. "Mikey's dead."

…..

Don gave up believing that his shell cell was going to ring. But he couldn't help but keep it in his grip, wanting Raph, Leo, or April to somehow contact them. He sighed and glanced at Mikey, the new bandage that he had wrapped around his head gave him the chills. But he didn't seem bothered by it, he was probably too shocked from the lair that nothing really fazed him.

Don couldn't tell what Casey was feeling, he was usually the hardest to read.

Without really knowing what to do, he staggered off into Casey's room and flopped down on his bed, still clutching the phone.

He wished Leatherhead were still here, with his help they could easily take down Bishop. Don didn't have any doubts that him and his brothers could stop Bishop. But having the extra strength was always a good thing.

His phone vibrated. His heart skipped a beat as he quickly flipped it open and pressed it against his ear, "Hello!?" He almost shouted excitedly.

"Hello Donatello."

The rough voice almost made his stomach explode as his anger skyrocketed. "Tell anyone about this phone call and I'll make sure the four of you are inside whatever I blow up next." Bishop growled.

Don fought back the urge to smash his phone, or the urge to scream and threaten him. Instead, he took a deep breath. "What do you want from me?" He asked softly.

"Merely a moment of your time. Just a nice simple conversation about your friend. Leatherhead."

Don cringed and felt his insides boil.

"Very unfortunate what happened to him. I'm sure your having a tough time coping, I know you two were close." Bishop commented. Don's hand shook as he spoke, resisting the urge to vomit.

"It was a shame how he went, so brutal. I'm sure Leo didn't mean to though."

Don twitched, confusion washed over his face, "What?"

Bishop inhaled, "Hmm? Oh you don't know? It was Leonardo's fault Leatherhead was murdered."

Don tightened the grip on his phone, clenching his teeth, "Keep telling yourself that Bishop, but I know that Saki killed him." Don remarked.

"Yes, Saki was the one who murdered him, but it was caused because of Leonardo's actions." Bishop said coolly. Don's heart hammered, staying silent. "Think about it, Leatherhead told you three that he had cancer to cover for Leonardo's inability to trust you three with the truth, which inevitably dragged him into this situation. And when things started to heat up between the four of you, you guys didn't realize, but you were also dragging him into all of your family problems. To the point where Michelangelo himself blamed Leatherhead for everything."

Don felt his brain try to process everything at once, but one question stood out among the rest, "How the hell do you know all of this."

"And with the guilt, Leatherhead ran. Ran straight into the arms of Saki. Which led to his death. And it all circles back to Leonardo allowing this to happen." Bishop explained. "Leonardo could have trusted you with the truth and keep Leatherhead out of it completely. But no, his actions resulted in the death of Leatherhead."

Don knew that bishop was most likely lying to him. But for some reason, he believed him. But his question still stood, "How do you know all of this. How do you know that Leatherhead stayed with us? And how did you know Mikey blamed Leatherhead?"

Bishop was silent for a second, then spoke eerily, "I know everything."

Don felt a bolt of terror strike his heart, especially after Bishop ended the call, leaving Don to listen to the dial tone with the disturbing thought inside his head.

Leo being to blame.

…..

"You're a liar." Raph growled.

"Why would I lie about something like that Raph?" Leo snapped.

"I don't know Leo, why don't you tell me."

"Raph I saw it with my own eyes."

Raph shook his head, "You think that I'll believe you after all the time you've lied to us." He growled, then turned to walk away. Leo felt his desperation skyrocket as he lunged forward to grab him. But before he could talk, Raph swung around and struck Leo in the face. He retreated, holding his face as Raph glared in anger at him.

"Stay away from us." He muttered, as if having a hard time saying those words.

Leo felt his insides melt as his lip trembled, "What?"

"You got us into this mess, you get us out. You didn't want our help from the start, then we ain't gonna help you now." He said, then turned and walked toward the tunnel.

"Raph!" Leo shouted. But Raph was already out of sight before Leo could say anymore. Leo felt his heart sink farther at the thought that his brother doesn't want him to be near the others. Leo thought he had been doing this for the right reasons, but now he wasn't so sure.

He looked up into the room adjacent from him, he didn't know what room it was, nor was he trying to figure it out. The only thing he noticed was the mirror, and not the mirror itself, but what was reflected in the mirror.

No Leo, what it was suppose to reflect.

Instead it reflected Saki, standing in the middle of what use to be the lair. Leo closed his eyes as fast as he could, taking deep breaths, telling himself that he was seeing things.

When he opened his eyes, he saw his own reflection, standing where he saw Saki standing.

…..

Karai stood in front of the case that held her fathers armor. Staring at what use to be her destiny, but now she had no idea what the future held.

She had a hard time believing that Leo actually went behind her back and led the foot ninja's without consulting her.

She looked at the ground and sighed, then felt her phone vibrate. She grabbed it and looked at the message.

_On the roof. –Leo_

A thought crossed her mind. Last time she saw Leo, he was with his family and happy enough. And now he's leading the foot ninja, and is here, and not with his family.

She groaned and put her phone away, walking out of what use to be Saki's room and into the stairwell, climbing the stairs toward the roof. She didn't know what to expect, but it was most likely unpleasant news. Leo isn't one to just sneak around and let Karai come to him.

It also didn't make sense that if he had any problems, why couldn't he go to his family, why did he go straight to the foot ninjas.

She stepped up to the door and pushed it open, quickly seeing Leo leaning over the edge. For a second she hesitated, getting a bad feeling. She didn't know what she would get herself into with talking to him. She could turn around, leave and get herself out of trouble.

But she knew she couldn't. She felt too attached to Leo to just blow him off.

She sighed, then stepped up next to him, leaning against the edge with her heart hammering.

There was an awkward silence that lingered for a few minutes. Leo seemed clearly bothered by something, and she needed to know.

"Bishop is alive." Leo said suddenly.

Shock hit Karai faster then expected, "What?"

Leo sighed, closing his eyes, "Bishop has been behind everything all along. It wasn't Saki. Bishop and Saki were in on everything, knew everything we were doing and planning. And when Bishop faked his death, Saki became paranoid that he was next, so he went into hiding. And that's just what Bishop wanted." He explained.

"And when Saki died, he showed his face again, standing in front of a whole army of soldiers that opened fired on Casey's farmhouse."

"Oh my god." Karai exhaled.

Leo groaned, surprised that he felt no urge to shed tears. "He killed Mikey." Leo said, face with no hint of emotions.

Karai felt shock and surprise clog her throat as she twisted her head at Leo. Without thinking, she backed away as she covered her mouth. Leo sighed and shook his head, "My family want's nothing to do with me anymore." He muttered, "I…I did this for them…all of this. And this is what I get."

Karai stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder, He sighed and moved away from her, facing away as he began unraveling the gauze that was wrapped around his head.

She watched nervously as he finished and let the used gauze slip through his fingers. "What are you going to do now?" Karai asked. Leo froze, then slowly turned toward her. She cringed when she saw his exposed eye, A jagged line running from his brow to his bottom eyelid, still oozing small amounts of blood that trickled down to the edge of his lip, which he cleaned up with one swift flick of the tongue.

"What's left to do?" Leo asked, digging something out of his belt. "My family is against me, and Bishop is too smart for a head on attack." He said as he turned away from Karai and tied something around his head. "So, I need to find a way to trick Bishop, something he won't expect." He said, then turned around as he finished tying the eye patch that covered his wounded eye around his head, the eye patch that replaced his mask.

"Then we kill the son of a bitch."


End file.
